Austin Chronicle's Scores

For 1,949 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Wincing The Night Away
Lowest review score: 20 Luminous
Score distribution:
1949 music reviews
    • 73 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Bulat's pipes and songwriting prowess flourish, more than in her prior folksy, singer-songwriter LPs.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Americana may find its best representation in the Kiwi's broad reach and inclusive interpretation.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Underneath the blustery sass and cynicism sparkles a tender human being still nursing old wounds.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    They're fine tunes with few faults, but they fail to add anything meaningful to the conversation.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Everything we love about Local Natives remains, but they make us work harder for it.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Will Sheff creates albums as statements, and Away ultimately rings with a wonder in letting go.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The band hits all marks on melody and dynamics, but the furious passion that drove their past work sounds muted.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Loathing permeates the band's third album like xenophobia at a Trump rally. Emulating Black Flag gone grindcore, You Will Never Be One of Us beats brief thrashers "Parasite," "Made to Make You Fail," "Violence Is Forever" senseless with merciless precision.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Miller indulges his appetite for electronics and repetition alongside psychedelic excursions.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Accompanied by piano, ex-Ulver shredder HÃ¥vard, and the Norwegian Girls' Choir, the now-New Yorker strips away intricate instrumental passages and dramatic flourish in favor of direct, oft-soaring communication. ... Brutal beauty.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    It's a rare occasion of art transcending influence, with Toledo sounding like he's coming apart while doing it.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Like its predecessor, Hope's lyrics alone spur startling awe and fierce innovation.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Results including "Lucifer and God" and instant classic "The End of Things" equal Mould's most melodically explosive punk rock since his Eighties heyday in Minneapolis, all abrasive guitar work and barbed lyricism candy-coated by tunefulness.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Gone are any remnants of yesteryear's "rock music" ideology, thrusting Radiohead into a mature state of potentially their best work still to come.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Bishop's voice is typically smooth and Cobb's production sizzles on occasion, but save for soul-pop ditty "Too Late," Ain't Who I Was never catches fire.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Undercurrent might not be her best work, but she's set herself up to go wherever the music takes her, and those following along are sure to revel in the adventure.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    The funky "Eastside," the snap and bop of "Green Light," and the honeyed coo of "Sweet Little Messages" all stand out on an effort that gets extra points for trying something different and succeeding beyond anybody's dreams.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    The duo's "Ruby Tuesday" cover slides rough, understated, but their take on "You Were on My Mind" hits a high note.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Touches of Simon & Garfunkel lift "Catalogue" and "Gold," but the lingering harmonies feel more forced and measured than natural.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Not a lot of sky over NYC, but Kevin Morby capitalizes on any glimpse of it.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Pile arrives comparatively light on melodrama, brimming with live fast/die young missives instead, anthems of restless spirits who drink love and life from the same red plastic cup.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    By effortlessly topping her own best work. Lemonade now sets a new standard for cross-genre collaboration.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Third album Down in Heaven moves through Monkees-level cheese with the walking bassline and soaring "ba-ba-bahs" of "My Boys," while "Holding Roses" swings Rolling Stones, guitarist Clay Frankel mastering both Mick Jagger's vocal swag and Keith Richards' guitar privateering.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Rough going at 75 minutes, but it's as pure an expression of Merzbow's vision as the first half is of Boris'.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    Time signatures change gears with neck-snapping regularity, underpinned by Cronin's Krautrock bass, and a Devo-esque "concept" involves Segall as a masked, Booji Boy-ish character named Sloppo.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Full of punch, the album still never quite reaches its destination.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 67 Critic Score
    IV
    Cosmic and eerie, the disc pays ample homage to the influences from whom IV swipes its title.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Across a decade and eight LPs, Brooklyn fivepiece Woods have perfected a lo-fi folk prone to spastic jam breakdowns. Ninth offering City Sun Eater in the River of Light now shatters any preconceived notions.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 89 Critic Score
    Constructed of parts from Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, Comets on Fire, and Howlin Rain, the eponymous San Francisco quartet drowns ethereal folk melodies in a cauldron of distortion and feedback.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 78 Critic Score
    Freaks of Nurture captures Holy Wave as it takes a step toward greatness.