For an album that led the charge in early-’00s pop-punk, it’s worth a spin or two, if only for the memories it’ll bring back.

Not good, not bad, just is.

Furiosity is crass, it’s rowdy, and it’s totally unoriginal but in the best kind of way.

It has highlights, certainly, the beautiful ‘The Vampyre Of Time And Memory’ and epic single ‘My God Is The Sun’ being cases in point, but this a largely disappointing return to record for QOTSA.

At times, the quintet deliver the solid grooves and renowned, catchy singalong choruses that have engaged their adoring fan base, but for too much of the time Ungrateful sounds a bit flat and tired.

As a whole, Close The Distance is a touch lacking for our ears.

This is a difficult album to love... the overriding impression is of a not entirely pleasant sugar rush.

Murdered Love is a perfectly enjoyable and easily digestible slice of rap-metal.

It is with frightful ease that one can declare 'Days Go By' as a parody of the efforts which came before.

Expect polished fare awash with slick harmonies, clean guitars, heavy drumbeats, giant hooks and an unadulterated wall of gleaming pop.

There are enough early anthems included to warrant picking this up, if only as a gateway to their back catalogue.

It'd be a far easier listen if it was a proper studio release.

Some Kind Of Hate is at its best when it doesn't take itself too seriously.

While the band set themselves up well on songs such as 'I Like Drugs' and 'Just Like Tiger Woods', the record does rely a little too much on no-brainer jokes about girls.

Frontman Dave King's vocal approach now presents itself as one of jaded disinterest, the defiant cries replaced by a sense of wistful reminiscence.

There's been a noticeable progression in sound over the years, but whether it's for the better is debatable. You see, Disguises is neither brilliant or dreadful.

Their fizzy keyboards and Bob Mould-y vocals remain intact, but essentially this is conventional indie-rock.

Suffice to say, the once-beloved Kansas City quintet are not Radiohead, and whilst they may have left their pioneering, emo-infused pop-punk behind over a decade ago, nothing quite prepares the listener for the insipid snooze-a-thon they've concocted here.

For those who are not familiar with Monotonix, they're the garage rock band from Israel who are best known for their live sets [...] that leaves this forlorn album reviewer with no visuals nor an earhole full of sweat, instead just 10 songs of crude, cave-art proto-metal and a duty to tell you that actually, Monotonix have a relevance outside of the live context.

They've not lost their ability to craft subtly alluring, idiosyncratic songs in that time.

The way they put together their country-rock is rarely less than tasteful with some nice moments, like the sinuous guitar riff of 'Calamity Song'. Only on 'January Hymn', though, where they capture the stillness and melancholy of winter beautifully, do you forget to check the joinery.

Earworms are decidedly less abundant than normal, though, sad to say.

What this means is that if you find this band annoying, you'll probably hate them 10 times more after hearing Wonders Of The Younger. For the rest of us, there's no denying that 'Rhythm Of Love' and 'Killer' are guilty pleasures in the making--consider us thoroughly killed with kindness.

Amoral proves that Violens will stand proud knowing they can give a name to their organized mess, even if they don't know what it is yet.

On his latest solo effort, System of a Down man, Serj Tankian, continues to stride further and further away from the sound that was once his bread and butter.

There's nothing immediately wrong with Perch Patchwork--'Living Decorations' and 'Israeli Caves' are serviceable indie rock tunes, and 'Was' is a teasingly low-key ditty--but the core of the album is eminently forgettable.

Trouble is, after one listen it becomes evident that MB hardly benefit from further investigation – they’re just another hipster band who got lucky.

The Constant does what it says on the, er, CD; constantly good, but with more focus it could have been brilliant.