Yoko isn't exactly what fans of the first three albums might be expecting, but it's still a Beulah album. [#5, p.99]

We have here a nice mix of balmy love songs and enthusiastic foot-stompers with only a scarce few clunkers. [Sep/Oct 2014, p.81]

At times, it's as moody and transporting as great film music, but, fat too often, these songs never materialize into anything more substantial than vapor. [Winter 2008, p.80]

Transferring the energy and spectacle of their live shows has to be challenging, but the songs here come as close as any of their earlier work. [Spring 2010, p.63]

For Sloan, it amounts to another fine effort. [May 2011, p.88]

Phoenix still hasn’t overcome the faults of their previous efforts. [#14]

Despite the album's failure to forge any radical new ground... Visitations still offers some satisfaction by giving longtime fans exactly the sort of spooky rhythms and cryptic lyrics that made them fall in love with the band in the first place. [#16, p.90]

This is gorgeous Americana from an artist who has already garnered a dedicated following in Europe. [Winter 2009, p.78]

While it's fun to see such a promising band trying to make big leaps, Foil Deer only succeeds when Sadie Dupuis and company stick to their roots. [Apr - May 2015, p.86]

On Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails hints at new directions, but hesitates to take a leap.

The songs on No Ghost are never less than pretty, though one wishes a few of them had been steered by a stronger melodic compass. [Summer 2010, p76]

Ventriloquizzing is the sound of a band settling comfortably into its personality, though one can't help but feel that the best moments are still to come. [Year End 2010, p.70]

Simple, meditative stuff that's probably quite personal. [May 2011, p.87]

Half good and never outstanding. [#10, p.113]

Elf Power seems to be confined by the pop formula rather than doing much to improve upon it. [#7]

Cool but slight. [#5, p.101]

Bootlegs provides a capsule overview of Lerche's work and a sense of which material from his seven albums he feels might best represent him in a live setting. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.112]

Ultimately, a steelier grip might be preferable to their warm handshake. [Summer 2010, p.77]

While the new pieces are generally good, it's the songs from [last year's EP} Target Heart that continue to shine brightest. [Summer 2010, p.82]

At least half the time, Holy gets it right. Maybe more importantly for an album like this, it's never boring,. [Aug 2008, p.83]

Tuneful, but as the opening tracks promised, intensely moody and far darker this time around. [May 2011, p.87]

Songs From The Vanished Frontier has enough fuzz on the fringes to keep its bubbly, mellow vibe from going flat. [Jun-Jul 2013, p.97]

Maybe she doesn’t need Lanegan to write, but his creepy presence is missed not only as a voice, but also in the DNA of the songs themselves. [#15]

Melodia represents a clear fade from glory, but only a slight loss of merit. [Spring 2009, p.74]

The Ship sees Eno try his hand with the darker, cinematic side of minimal, and for the most part it works. The melancholic catalysts for the record (The First World War and the sinking of the Titanic) don't transcend quite as powerfully as they could have, though.

While Highlights still has many moments of unapologetic fun where Emm and Cohen sound like they could write those gorgeous, summery songs in their sleep, they have also rebuffed and polished their signature sound to the point where every attempt at deeper songwriting gets lost in the gloss.

There's nothing that will truly stick with you for the long haul, but sometimes a nice tune and some supercharged instrumentation are enough. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.115]

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.

Their move from stripped-down R&B to a more revue-based feel here only works in spots, however. [Fall 2008, p.86]

It’s not an album of recordings that can stand on its own easily. For the full experience, you really should listen to Sound Wheel while flipping through CAR MA, the book featuring her art, photography, and writings.

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

Unkempt and heartfelt, Terrible Human Beings shows The Orwells have promise and is a fun joy ride while you're on it. You just may not feel compelled to repeat the ride very often.

The album's highlights are many, further proving that Stephin Merritt is one of the finest songwriters alive. He simply needed an editor this time around.

Somewhere along the way, though, the emotions fail to match up, or the song structures that always sound so familiar fail to separate themselves from what's come before.

Trash Talk continue with not reinventing the wheel, and they do so effectively--it grinds, it pummels, and it's tailor-made for another generation of youth to get their circle pit on.

As an EP running at about 16 and a half minutes, Panic of Looking's brevity acts as a drawback; just as you're beginning to really soak it in, the EP suddenly reaches its conclusion.

Arguably the album's biggest weakness is that its muffled, messy production doesn't lend itself to the best songs. Still, these guys are just kids and their potential makes them likeable enough.

Violet Cries is an intriguing collection from a young band that already seems poised to build away from its influences. [Feb. 2011, p. 71]

The things the band does right on this album make it worth checking out, but hopefully next time around Warpaint will be able to keep the songwriting as consistently great throughout as the beginning and ending songs.

It'd be nice if they'd push themselves a bit harder to break some new stylistic ground, as with a sound like this compelling, it's obvious that they aren't lacking in sheer imagination and songwriting talent to do so. [Spring 2010, p.63]

Where the album falls short is with the incessant and often redundant ballads. [#13, p.88]

Far from a dud, and most definitely something that will divide audiences rather than be seen as a unanimous failure or success, In Fernaux nevertheless reveals itself to be the work of an artist that appears to be enduring a period of reflection, rather than looking forward to the future.

They may have another breakthrough and forward leap again, but even if they don't, the comfort zone they've found still sounds pretty damn good. [Summer 2010, p.89]

While not bringing many surprises, it will please existing fans and win more than a few new ones. [Spring 2009, p.64]

Break It Up is more Blondie than Black Flag. [Fall 2009, p.60]

This Land might not be a huge success. Some parts of the 16-song album are cheesy ("Feeling Like a Million"), too lyrically aggressive ("This Land"), or lacking innovation ("Low Down Rolling Stone"). However, few guitarists can consistently play notes this high, and do so with such quality. Clark Jr. can really rip a solo—that's his appeal to listeners—and a few more of those guitar extensions would have done This Land better.

There's a doomed pall hanging over much of Teenage and Torture. [Year End 2010, p.75]

Alas, most of Market's tracks work more as sound experiements than actual songs. [Fall 2009, p.62]

On Back To Forever, the music fits better; here, Lissie has found the music to match her vocal gift. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.92]

Listeners may scratch their heads over the album in whole; but open minds will discover that the beauty of the standalone tracks saves The 2nd Law from total combustion.

What the record-buying public arguably doesn’t need is an EP that sounds a little rough around the edges, lasts for precisely 12 minutes, 4 seconds. ... But wait, there are moments of brilliance on the rest.

This tantalizingly brief EP will please fans if The Blow, MGMT, and Hot Chip. [Fall 2008, p.88]

At times, the sheer busyness of the album’s songs prevents the listener from becoming fully immersed. [Winter 2008, p.82]

Despite coming across as borderline pastiche, Indigo Meadow's reproduction of throwback sounds comes from a genuine place. [Mar-Apr 2013, p.90]

Throughout, Canning aspires to the rousing anthems that have made Broken Social Scene one of the best acts of the last decade, but he falls short. He’s certainly not a lemon in the BSS product line; he’s just an underwhelming model. [Summer 2008]

Though Shame, Shame succeeds more than it fails, it also exposes how difficult it's going to be for Dr. Dog to truly create a masterpiece. [Sping 2010, p.69]

The album has a hard time being anything other than an experiment. [#9]

Dear Science, spends its 50 minutes in flux between several worlds, none of them particularly memorable. [Fall 2008, p.78]

With Ta-Dah, the band have decided to forego all the possible musical paths suggested in their debut and instead take the path of least resistance for most of the new record. Namely, making a safe, upbeat record that functions as little more than a feel-good, party album.

The songs on Shelter From The Ash can still stand strongly when taken in a shallow retrospect as an introduction to the band, but, when looking at the span of Chasney's prolific output, it can't help but feel like treading water. [Fall 2007, p.76]

Despite his innate ability to tread just above the banal, Wainwright's lyrics are often glaringly common. [Spring 2010, p.71]

Though it's a bit longwinded, activism and dance music collide on Talk About Body, which is a fiery and totally irresistible combination. [Feb. 2011, p. 71]

Though only a couple of tracks could hang with the Hazelwood days, it doesn't mean the rest of the songs aren't a pleasure. [#8, p.112]

If Dunes was their exploration of the bleary-eyed haze of romance, then Music For Dogs is the clarion call of lucidity, cutting through that fog, certain and electrifying.

You have to take the good with the bad. It's probably the case that the good is better than you remember it and the bad is worse.

As APTBS refine what they do, they stir in more noise, along with stylistic drifts into the space-rock and noise-rock arenas. [#39, p.73]

Some wonderful and very carefully constructed material here.

Of all three albums to date, none seem to live up to their electrifying live performance. [#7]

There is a samey quality to his last several releases that Buckner seems incapable of shaking. [#15]

Maps & Atlases take advantage of the space to properly stretch out on their first full-length record. [Summer 2010, p.84]

Finn puts aside his usual shouty tales of druggy teenaged vagabonds to subtly engage with the quieter topics of God and love. [#39, p.68]

At times the songs are as fragile as fog, and when the vocal tricks of "Daisy" and "Nightskies" become a but much it's like a mouthful of too-sweet candy lasting linger than expected. [Jan-Feb 2013, p.86]

At 16 songs, it's not a perfect album, but when it fails (which is rare) it does so with forward momentum. [Fall 2008, p.79]

Is it jaw dropping? Worthy of actually muttering the words "holy fuck" in earnest? Nah. Well, maybe the drumming at times. But at the very least, it's worthy of a few shits and giggles.

Delivers deeply personal, uncompromising songwriting tucked into intelligent and clever lyrics. [#8, p.114]

Giving themselves no limit on the length of their compositions, in some cases it feels as if the music is as long as the film it is scoring.

La Grande's subtle sonic shifts augur even more exciting directions to come. [#39, p.68]

Share the Joy is an obvious reaction to the once-underground movement that is now bloated with wannabe's and imposers.

For those that grew to love EELS from their early beginnings in the late ’90s through the early 2000s, you’ll understand the shortcomings here. Fortunately, a sub-par EELS is still better than most but even a couple of the better tunes on Extreme Witchcraft such as “Good Night On Earth” and “Stumbling Bee” sound like re-hashed songs from a previous EELS record.

How Hella can have the energy to keep cranking out their spastic, ludicrous-composition noise rock, let alone the brainpower required for memorizing all the parts, is anyone's guess. But sure enough, the duo-just the original two-piece for this one-is at it again.

The live feel of the disc is evident in that several of the tunes tend to meander. [#13, p.88]

Though the album's tracklist is bloated at 22 songs, the final three are worth the journey.

They have overshot the mark, however, as the overshadowing of the product by the ambition clearly indicates. [May 20111, p.84]

This group recording in-person—a first for Gahan & Soulsavers, who recorded their two previous albums remotely—has brought out an even more intimate feel to songs that feel almost excruciatingly intense already.

It’s clear that the group attempted making an album that was ostensibly un-Django Django, but the result is sometimes a tedious slog, much like a journey to a far-off planet.

The result is a more vibrant sonic bouquet—or a polarizing direction. It depends on which Foo Fighters fan you’d ask.

Send Away The Tigers could have used a little more of the direction and thought exercised in albums past. [Summer 2007, p.82]

The second disc, and the real treat here, is a barebones live recording of Zopoula playing in his backyard. [Spring 2009, p.77]

What the band does best is still straight-ahead pop-rock. [#13, p.97]

The good news for Bright Eyes fans who found the first Mystic Valley Band album to mannered: The new one restores some fire to Oberst's belly. The bad news: There's less Oberst this time around. [Spring 2009, p.67]

GB City is a heaping helping of frazzled guitar caterwaul, bashed drums, and teenage delinquent lyrics about "talking to Elvis in my sleep" where Elvis responds, "I'm cracked out." [May 2011, p.83]

Fortunately, when grooves meander and sometimes gets a bit ponderous, the band's creative instincts usually kick in to right the ship. [Summer 2010, p.83]

Wild Beasts have an art rock sensibility for sure, but these songs read like deranged fairy tales of clamoring male maturity. [Fall 2008, p.85]

For some, Wolf's gloomy musing will come across as just plain depressing, but there's enough gallow humor and tumult to keep it noteworthy. [Fall 2009, p.68]

As with previous recordings, Singh occasionally drives home lines or phrases to see that they bend properly into a hook, regardless of how malleable they may be. [Spring 2010, p.69]

Stick around and listen again, and the songs will reveal themselves as something distinct and remarkable that shrug off any nostalgia for past work. [#10, p.106]

Musically, Davies is on track, with strong arrangements and a capable band, but vocally he often reaches too far and ends up detracting from the song. [Spring 2008, p.82]

Everything shows how a solid foundation of ideas can be steadily improved upon. [Fall 2009, p.68]