DIY Magazine's Scores

  • Music
For 3,080 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:
3080 music reviews
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s the kind of stylistic pick’n’mix Mykki has made their name on: ‘Ketamine’ with Slug Christ nods to the latest iteration of pop-punk; ‘Your Love Was A Gift’ shows a fragility to Dianna Gordon’s vocals amid ghostly production; ‘Trust A Little Bit’ shimmers with a tender nature. And best of all, it works as a whole.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘The Car’ is Alex and crew’s most soundtrack-like work so far, flowing together in one long movement made cohesive by Bridget Samuels’ lush orchestral arrangements which adorn it.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    With this near-mystical storytelling ‘Quiet The Room’ leans heavily on folk, yet in style it embodies something entirely different. Seemingly on the edge of collapse, it tells a fraught tale of fragile memories that exist on the very brink of reality.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    ‘Here Is Everything’ lands in the sweet spot; it’s creatively ambitious, pushing the quartet into new ground, but it does so with a renewed sense of fun.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    ‘Dirt Femme’ sees her juxtapose elements ingeniously. If she’s singing in a straightforward manner, on a more direct number, then the music is twisting and turning in offbeat ways.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    ‘CHAOS NOW*’ might not have much of ‘80s Mancunian misery in its toolbox, but there’s an exhilarating meeting of grunge, pop-punk and indie with hip hop rhythms: Beck if he’d used a palette of early ‘00s MTV2.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There is something strangely satisfying about its consistency and confidence. Have no doubts, ‘Being Funny…’ is most certainly still The 1975; they’ve just refined their pop nous that little bit more this time around.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    For a record born of fatigue and exhaustion, she imbues a renewing sense of urgency to each bar she delivers.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    ‘Into The Blue’ comes across like the pair swapping mixtapes; a little ‘60s psych here, some ‘70s soul there, with a smidge of ‘80s R&B between. ... In lesser hands, this may have presented a mish-mash of confused homage, but here, it’s just a pleasant, nostalgic listen.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The stories being told match in tone, driven forward through a tantalising mix of urgency and despondency – mirroring the detached hustle of England’s capital.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Uneasy and unpredictable, yet invigorating.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Across ‘Cool It Down’, Yeah Yeah Yeahs remain true to their roots without making it sound like a nostalgic grab for previous glory. ... It turns out Yeah Yeah Yeahs 2.0 is exactly what 2022 needs.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    These 14 tracks are so sonically rich with a multitude of textures, each listen peeling back just one measly layer; Molly’s vocal hooks and turns of phrase will remain in your brain days after the last listen.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    With fewer hands stirring the pot this time around, she’s had ample opportunity to come even more into her own, pulling off the bouncy, subtly ska-influenced WLW bop ‘hover like a GODDESS’ and introspective guitar pop groove of ‘curious/furious’ and ‘ur a stranger’ with stylish ease. Most intriguing, perhaps, are her forays into post-hardcore, unleashing a tremendous scream over the top of crunching guitars in the dying moments of ‘ it’s my fault’, but not everything goes quite so smoothly.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The record makes no attempt to shroud emotional reactions to the modern world, and it results in a thematically poignant, lyrically sharp and sonically surprising statement piece that redeems what was once used as a dismissive label.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    ‘GULP!’ isn’t Sports Team’s number one-scoring album (that could well be still to come). What it does offer is a heft of new ammo for pint-flinging, moshpitting chaos on the dancefloor.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Lounge Society clearly have more in their influence pool than just one slipstream, and it’s when they embrace the full flood that they shine.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    It’s a testament to his talents that he can produce an album that encapsulates his weird and beautiful world, which is full of more questions than answers.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    ‘Tough Baby’ gives us a distinctly moving experience of serious artistic intent. It’s like watching a wound open, flowers growing out of it.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    There’s an abundance of over-excited jitters that keep you bouncing to each wildly mercurial moment. ‘demon time’ is an undeniable rush to your systems, and a deliciously futuristic one at that.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A deeply thoughtful and yet infinitely danceable collection of songs, it balances honest truths with taunting vocals and bursts of synth-prompted energy.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Suede maintain their magnitude through emotional craft - single ‘15 Again’ is the perfect microcosm of ‘Autofiction’’s ups and downs, its euphoric chorus built around painstaking regret. In essence, ‘Autofiction’ finds Suede still fiercely in motion.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘Asphalt Meadows’ may not be a lockdown record, but it’s one that finds its voice in emerging into musical freedoms found in separation.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    It’s an honest and visceral look into more painful moments that come with processing past pain.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    It takes a while for Preoccupations to find their new groove on ‘Arrangements’. But, when they hit that stride in the latter half, it’s a terrific one.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    ‘Natural Brown Prom Queen’ is Sudan Archives’ most accessible record to date. An unashamedly brash and confident one, but much more subtle and realistic. Rumbling beats, smooth R&B grooves, with just a touch of the experimental. Yet, in opening itself wider, it loses some of the sharp idiosyncrasies that made the early material so exciting.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Where ‘Spirituals’ - which both marks a return from a four-year break and Santi’s first release as an independent artist - works best, is as reminder and introduction. The cut-and-paste, mixtape ethos that shone through in the first place is still there.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    ‘I Love You Jennifer B’ feels like everything that’s come before has just been a trial run. It’s bolder, more rewarding, and so much more cohesive.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    ‘As Above, So Below’ feels more refined. It’s fair to say there’s no one else quite doing it like Sampa The Great right now.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    ‘Hideous Bastard’ sees Oliver take on both these past and present realities with a candour that surprises even him.