DIY Magazine's Scores

  • Music
For 3,057 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 42% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Not to Disappear
Lowest review score: 20 Let It Reign
Score distribution:
3057 music reviews
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There’s a sense that nobody’s heart was quite in it which sometimes means proceedings drag on, refusing to invent, refusing to accept that Granddady can be a band who make it. It’s heart-breaking and at times powerfully so, but it also shuns the listener, forcing them to a place where Grandaddy risk drifting once more into obscurity.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Given that the various members of Hot Chip have various side-hustles and secondary creative outlets, it’s a little surprising how much of ‘Freakout / Release’ sounds quite this forced.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There’s a minimalism in places here that even ardent fans might find a touch disappointing given how predisposed she normally is to extrapolating on her ideas. In fairness, though, the whole point of Documents is to capture the sound of a band, still hot from the road, bringing that energy to the studio. In the Same Room delivers.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It fits within its own logic, but no others, resulting in a succinct record that should be anything but.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    'Incorruptible Heart' is a frustrating listen. You are left with the sense that there is a brilliant pop group waiting to burst out but for the most part, they are sadly suffocated by the arrangements.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    For better or for worse though, Moh Lhean mostly moves to the beat of its own, strangely laid-back drums. It just would have been nice to have a little more variation buried within those meditative vibes.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    There's little doubt that Mudhoney intend this to be an obtuse, difficult listen--the lyrical allusions to GG Allin certainly suggest as much--but its lackadaisical approach leaves it feeling toothless rather than effortlessly cool.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The rich swells of optimism that characterised earlier cuts such as ‘Skipping Stones’ or ‘Lost Dreamers’ have been replaced with a yearning melancholy.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It can’t match the drive and power of his electric projects by its very nature, so it may well remain a release for the hardcore fans.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Shriek is certainly a considerable statement that opens up endless vistas of possibility for a reinvigorated band.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chelsea Light Moving should feel like a tired hashing-over of sonic tropes, considering what a prolific career the front man's had. But it doesn't; it's a lively, noisy semi-resurrection.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Quiet River of Dust won’t be for everyone, but you can’t help but marvel at its ambition.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    III
    [The off-trend songs like Alaska, Sawzall and Hawaiian Mazes] feel freer, more exciting and more innovative. But III isn’t that. Instead, for the most part, it feels like Banks-by-numbers.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The strength of A.L.L.A is when Rocky dodges the conventional diss tracks and instead tells his story without any strings attached.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    They’ve taken the strengths of ‘Teen Dream’ and ‘Bloom’--reaching pop highs with ease--before being deceptive like it’s some kind of game. It’s not unfamiliar in the good sense, and it’s an odd outlier in an otherwise brilliant back-catalogue.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There is certainly well crafted song writing, but the album suffers for having a rather one dimensional sound; the most interesting track ['Sweet Dee'] is, notably, the most different.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Through exhibiting effortlessly strong songwriting with infectious hooks and warm, albeit slightly corny lyricism, the other slacker from Canada has matured into an amorous connoisseur of alternative pop.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    An album that’s sometimes a little too abstract to truly connect with.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Whilst they haven’t stumbled at the unshakeable hurdle of the difficult second album, the ‘Wow’ factor of their debut has since diminished. Thankfully, there’s enough youthful grit and promise on show here to suggest that that spectacular something is on the horizon.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Not only safe, Music Complete serves to dilute New Order’s output.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It's not a record that will convert anyone who had previously dismissed these two Canadians, but it preaches a sermon that the present congregation will enjoy to their heart's content.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    As a record, it lacks a coherent identity.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Alexis Taylor’s discovery and consequent understanding of the importance of religion and its expansive scriptures are well captured in this reflective release.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    As an experiment, No Grace could go further. But PAWS continue to have fuzz defining their every step.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ultimately, though, it’s Pulido’s steady hand that brings an assured, if occasionally slight, album together where there was so much potential for these heavyweights to step on each other’s toes.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The reality though is that your ability to get on board with this record will depend more or less entirely on how you feel about its lyrical content.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    In Roses is kind of a horrible record in a sense, praying on emotional weakness so aggressively--but, it's so achingly gorgeous, that it's hard not to dive in with a complete disregard for state of mind.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The album is a mismatch of styles, moods and tempos. There is little cohesion and each song feels like a thought or idea alone on the record--like a collection of B-sides or rarities.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The clear direction and production of the album means that while those who enjoyed The Staves’ debut will not be disappointed, there is arguably less of a initial folk sound that was more apparent on their first record.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    An album that only even begins to click after about the tenth listen, Arctic Monkeys’ sixth is the kind of eyebrow-raising curveball that could still yet lead to brilliance.