Punknews.org (Staff)'s Scores

  • Music
For 508 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 35% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Pythons
Lowest review score: 10 Just Like You
Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 11 out of 508
508 music reviews
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Ultimately, with such amazing writers, this album's going to drill deep down into you and leave you missing the things you need in life. The persons you love and the moments you may think's best to forget.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The filler tracks don't resonate at all but still, for what it's worth, this record doesn't say just anything... for fans of Max and the band over the years, it says everything.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    It's classic Fidlar. However, while the musical style's sure to leave fans scratching their heads, peer a bit deeper and you'll see their signature's very much there--it's just, well, diluted and funkier than ever.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All in all, Swervedriver delivers the goods but with this record, it's safe to say it could have come years ago. I'd love to hear them take a risk and mix it up moving forward.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    If you don’t want to listen to it, don’t. Weezer couldn’t care less. But for anyone that likes a good clean pop cover by a band who is very good at cover songs, hey, here’s ten songs for you.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Evil Spirits is compact and focused. Instead of trying any new idea they might come across, the band, perhaps refreshed from the rather long period since their last album, has asked themselves, and not the fans, what the Damned are and have crafted a release that acts as much as a return to glory as it does a self-definition for the band.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    These are some of Cube’s hardest and most energetic beats since the ‘90s.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    It is just such a cut above everything they’ve done that it warrants a listen from anyone into fearless and challenging, yet still melodic, experimental rock. It's their finest work, and probably this year's best rock album.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Seriously, these songs feel like Smashing Pumpkins demos--grainy, rough, atmospheric--like if they were made in a garage, and I think that's exactly what CN wanted to achieve. Rough, raw and rugged, but still jangly, catchy and head-poppy enough to leave you wanting more.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    This whole album really takes no prisoners, and brings to mind everything that was good in the underground music scene from the eighties into the early/mid-nineties. Lyrically, the band takes no prisoners and holds nothing back shouting down religion, political leaders the world over, and anyone else that gets in their way. They also are able to do what so many modern bands fail to do, blend their influences well.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cursive has made an uneasy record for their fans that may be too on the nose, which is clearly the intention.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Bought to Rot is an exploration and an experiment, but a highly successful one that manages to come together as a coherent whole to really deliver something special.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Through A Wall dropped as a surprise and what I love most about it is it's so bold in that it goes right back to the sound of old after last year's Our Pleasure seemed to take a more catchy, melodic and dare I say, poppy route.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    This album is another experience in the bag, and another masterpiece written on the wall.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dose Your Dreams feels like a fresh breath for the band. With all the heavy meta-survey of their most recent releases spit out, it sounds like the band is floating upwards, and perhaps just as importantly, having a lot of fun.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Good Charlotte know how to write a hit and a hook but their honorable intentions to be memorable fall short.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All in all, J.M. have churned out a fun record--bouncy, catchy, melodic as fuck--but it lacks the impetus and edge of old.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Joy as an Act of Resistance is a cohesive banner proving IDLES practice what they preach.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All in all, Marauder to me are the B-sides from Turn On... not perfect, not weak but with some trimming of the fat, songs that could have fit right in on its deluxe edition.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Not only do they bring back their best traits, Nothing absolutely perfects a diverse sound they've been trying to nail for some time. Not that they were bad at it, quite the opposite, but here, refining and honing finally pays off.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Her new album is carefully all over the place, ditching pretty much every aspect of the genre that brought her recognition.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Foxing’s giant leap takes them away from their emo upbringing and should place them among contemporaries like Portugal. The Man, Alt-J and Glass Animals. They’ve risked everything for this album and their desire for something greater. I’m calling it now: Foxing’s Nearer My God is the album of the year.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Here, DCFC cut loose a bit and it's water they're better off swimming in my opinion. Hopefully, there's more energy moving forward but all in all, Thank You for Today is a record we should be thankful has blossomed into existence, especially on the heels of how relatable it can be.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Kill the Lights is pretty, relatable and doesn’t have time to overstay its welcome.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Every Ghost album thus far has had a very distinct identity, and its hard to pick a favorite, but it’s safe to say that Prequelle is their most accomplished work yet.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    While New Bermuda was an exceptional album, it felt like a reaction to all the hate that came with Sunbather, as if they felt they had something to prove to themselves. Here, they’ve made a sun-drenched California metal album and offer no apologies for it. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love is Deafheaven doing what they want for themselves.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Sciences proves that Sleep has got the goods and no manner of years could pull the magic from the Pike-Cisneros connection. And more importantly than that, Sleep, when merely focusing on being Sleep instead of a being collection of influences, is able to produce work that is uniquely them, uniquely fresh, and frankly, inimitable.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    This collective continuously defies the status quo and Have You Considered Punk Music is another successful representative of their never-ending quest.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    All in all, it's a good album, but I kept waiting for that big, mighty and monstrous climax which never comes.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ye
    Ye doesn’t feel like that reinvention. If anything, this album feels safe, a word I imagine is insulting to the artist. ... However, Kanye has an incredible ear for production, more apparent on Pusha T’s DAYTONA. There are some excellent moments on Ye, but with only twenty-four minutes of music, some doesn’t cut it.