The good news is that one of the most consistently entertaining pop-rock bands of the 1990s is back together. The bad news is that the album they've released to mark their comeback isn't quite a classic.

His improved state of mind, and the superior production on some of the tracks, does bring the music on occasion perilously close to the RnB blandness to which this is presumably supposed to provide an alternative.

There are no excursions into dubstep, no guest rappers and no raunchiness, just good clean wholesome party (as in jelly and ice-cream) fun.

At least five of these songs [out of twelve] should've remained on the cutting room floor.

Surrender your mind, body and soul to the Goat and one of the year's best albums so far.

As has been noted before, bands such as We Are the Ocean currently exist in a crowded market. Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow should give them a firm foothold in it.

Battle Born is a belter, an album made for bedrooms, stadiums and old-school denim jacket patches alike.

Still, despite some odd uses of language on them, tracks like Shut-In Tourist and Everything's Gonna Be Undone will undoubtedly keep fans of this enduring band more than happy.

But heavy as the rhythms are, Mala's deftness of touch means the Cuban contributions are never entirely overwhelmed, and when he pulls more elements into the mix the results are often stunning.

Beside Putrifiers II's guitar-fuelled thrills are a number of moments that find Thee Oh See's catching their winklepinkers on the pavement as they attempt to side step into more experimental, psychedelic territory.

[I Bet On Sky] is arguably the equal of their 80s heyday.

An unexpected but endearing valentine to the 1940s and 50s.

In terms of conceptual realisation, Liquid Swords is a blueprint for the perfect Wu record.

Staff Benda Bilili sing songs of strife and redemption. Yet when the mixture of French and various Congolese languages breaks into sing-along "la la la"s on Ne Me Quitte Pas it becomes as pure a life-affirming rush as the best pop music in any language.

Though all are blessed with a wry and dusty charm that's hard to dislike, too many are rolled out in a way that seems more to do with autopilot than passion. Narrow Way and Duquesne Whistle mighty be jaunty toe-tappers but they're also examples of the lightweight fluff that blows around the album.

This debut is all creepy, crawly kinds of fun, and we already want more.

Byrne and Clark have managed to not only meet but exceed expectations, and created one of the year's smartest albums in doing so.

Elysium could be Pet Shop Boys' warmest, wisest album yet.

The accessible groove of Flower and party-time refrain of ...Candyhands make for just two more standout moments on this terrific album that appears to achieve the impossible: making a breakup sound like just the most fun you could possibly have.

There is no doubt in this mind that Narrows have created one of the hardcore albums of 2012. There is a strange kind of beauty in unbridled monstrosity, and Painted is a stunning behemoth of an album.

She doesn't seek to graft herself onto these songs; instead, and with considerable skill, she draws out from them new layers of wit, tenderness and melancholia.

With a signature sound established at the first time of asking, The xx's challenge was to both expand their palette and satisfy the demands of a huge audience. And through refinement rather than reinvention, they've succeeded in singular style.

Lekman has always had a neat turn of phrase, whether barbed, droll or plainly silly. Again, there's [sic] plenty of them here.

This is music with a pure heart, a clean conscience and the snap of a steel-spring trap.

Algiers is a refined, consistent and beautifully textured set of songs.

Caminiti seems fully aware of the perils and pitfalls of the nu-new age, thwarting any such comparisons by rousing his near-ambient flows with radiant beams of six-string sustain.

Antibalas is musical democracy in action, and an inspiring example of a band practicing what they preach.

A little bit of cheese is a small price to pay for an album this likeable, accomplished and charmingly unfussed about being cool.