Record is solid, without a bad song on it, though with that said, aside from "Queen," "Guitar," and "Go," not much really stands out.

A pleasant curiosity. [#11, p.117]

The experiments don't come off, while the pop style disappears under endless repetition. That isn't to say it's not lovely and engaging for while-it is-but too much of a good thing is still too much.

Only the most diehard Bauhaus collectors need The Bela Session in their shrine.

Unfortunately, The Big Roar can't sustain the love affair over 12 tracks. [May 2011, p.85]

Nothing really stands out, and the songs that do--the catchy "Short Elevated Period," as well as the two musical highlights of the album, "This Time" and "Sleep on the Wing"--don't leave enough of an impression to be overly impressed by.

The album has a very sterile feel to it, almost as if the members all recorded seperately and then mailed their contributions in to be mixed together. [Fall 2008, p.85]

Admittedly, it's an intriguing attempt at reinvigorating an established sound. But far too often it fails to connect, with many numbers drifting out as the feeble efforts of a band that's lost confidence in itself.

The Clearing is as pleasant as their previous work, but suffers from a nagging case of diminishing returns.

Mark Ronson-esque, electro-pop with an R&B soul, and immensely danceable tunefulness. [Jul 2011, p.81]

El Pintor is an Interpol album that does exactly what it says on the tin, with no alarms and no surprises.

It's an indulgence for the ABBA fan inside us all, and sometimes we just have to give in. [Sep/Oct 2014, p.77]

What starts as an Avalanches-like ring-tone gallop ultimately blows its load on dancehall-robo sex. [Summer 2009, p.73]

Mystery Jets have lost any trace of the unpredictability and combustibility that made Making Dens so exciting. [Summer 2010, p.85]

The rest is solid enough--existing fans will find plenty to love. But this chaos is well under control. [Summer 2010, p.84]

On its own, Tomboy isn't moving forward but it isn't treading water, either. Lennox performs a tricky balancing act in that sense.

Perfect Pussy is almost definitely a band to be experienced live rather than on record, but as statements of intent go, Say Yes to Love is an incredibly powerful one.

While At Echo Lake was essentially the same sonic blueprint as its predecessor, the mellower mood here is a marked change from those last two efforts, though it's not always the most successful of shifts. [May 2011, p. 82]

Payola could have been a richer experience compressed into an EP, a subversive power pop that could incandesce the psyches of America's mall-going teens. But even at 44 minutes, it feels overlong, its energy too diffuse for the intended impact.

He still packs dense short stories into each track, but without the humor the drama sometimes falls flat.

Sadly, post-rock heroes Mogwai continue to plod along by either replicating their former triumphs in a less effective, less effecting, and generally sheeny-shinier manner or by loafing around with the cack-handed utilization of "progressive" electronic elements.

Overall, Ashes & Fire is a delightful Saturday-morning House-cleaning music. [Oct 2011, p.96]

Crazy For You may not break much new ground, but it's a fine record that fits nicely into the escapist beach pop melieu presently ranging in indie rock. [Summer 2010, p.77]

Hit After Hit still features lots of reverb and wry, repetitive lyrics, but the production is more sophisticated and subtle. [May 2011, p.86]

A band reuniting implies unfinished creative business. In the case of Seasons Of The Day, one strains excessively to imagine what that business might be. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.92]

The follow-up to 2007's "Boss" is an uneven album that is full of good ideas but often misses the mark. [Spring 2009, p.76]

It’s as if all of these songs are the equivalent of a nutty tossed-off filler track that might close side one of an album as a joke. None of the songs are developed beyond the point of cartoonish posturing and none have much to recommend them musically.

The decision to release the limited edition of Parallax as a literal soup can is apt--this one is a rather diverse broth of fey sounds brought to a twee-funk boil. [Year End 2008]