Not here the gliding elegance of Drive, but an almost self-conscious rewrite of that brilliant debut's mechanical pop rock. [July 2011, p. 106]

It's the vocals of Jana Hunter, an apprentice of freak folk luminary Devendra Banhart, that provides Nootropics' bewitching focal point, the group's gothic meld of gliding guitars and spectral synth noises resembling the Cocteau Twins on a comedown. [Jun 2012, p.107]

Really, though, he's at his best when he tones down the act. [Nov 2019, p.108]

This unabashedly jolly outing manages to be both simultaneously charming and irritating. [Feb 2003, p.106]

It's good in places, sporadically very good, but is no significant step up from their debut. [Oct 2012, p.113]

Second time around their disco shtick remains paramount but they've added traditional songwriting craft. [Dec 2015, p.106]

Ultimately, A New Testament is for converts only. [Nov 2014, p.115]

There is promising variation in places. [Nov 2012, p.111]

There's no doubt they're here to carouse, but beware the hangover. [Jan 2017, p.104]

Some of it is a bit too frenetic. But with Trouble On My Mind and All The Times You Prayed, The Staves' gorgeous harmonies shine out in a new setting. [Feb 2018, p.116]

While Space Gun has its moments of off-kilter brilliance, they are cancelled out by more earthbound, laboured-sounding fare. [May 2018, p.108]

On his incredibly busy album, Light, there are signs of diversification too. [Jul 2010, p.140]

The songs sizzle merrily, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts, and the relentlessness becomes wearing. [Oct 2008, p.139]

A pointed dig at modern Nashville's dull production line, Sleepless Nights is a collection of covers from a lost era of Patsy Cline and The Everly Brothers, Loveless's classic voice knocking pretenders into a cocked Stetson. [Jan 2009, p.120]

Things calm down in the second half; You Of All People and Join are an angelic two-step, providing a welcome respite to end the album on a hopeful note. [Jun 2018, p.116]

Touring with Coldplay have clearly done little to dim the scale of Meiburg's ambitions. [Mar 2012, p.112]

Their kooky appeal wanes over the course of an album, reminding you that sometimes cults stay that way for a reason. [July 2011, p. 106]

It loses its way in the last quarter, but not before you're convinced there's a unique talent at work. [Aug 2004, p.115]

It often feels as if Aitchison's nasal croon and counter-intuitive toplines are the least interesting bits of her own project. [Nov 2019, p.116]

When the formula gels, it can make for a potent cocktail, even if the arrestingly noirish production and twisted production often turn out to be more striking than the songs. [Aug 2014, p.112]

There are hints of Shoes' mentor Dilla in the woozier beats, and grittier curs such as Nails show where his reputation comes from. [Sep 2012, p.107]

This one is stranger than most. [Oct 2012, p.117]

With Permo, they display a self-starting urgency that keeps them up to speed with the turbulent here and now. [Jan 2018, p.114]

Sounding suitably big and blustery, it's also stuffed with lots of positive thinking and hopes for a better tomorrow. [May 2006, p.128]

Tidy enough indie pop, though the glowstick remains unwaved. [Feb 2007, p.99]

Beyond the just-add-tears euphoria it also shows a band capable of a rawness that their self-created, slightly precious, image masks. [Dec. 2011 p. 135]

Orb nostalgists will find much to savour. [Mar 2008, p.108]

A simple, joyful late-career bloom. [May 2013, p.106]