2-5 Stars
Connan Mockasin - Jassbusters Two
Like a sequel to a classic film that didn’t really need to happen.
5th November 2021
2-5 Stars Album & EP Reviews
2-5 Stars
The Joy Formidable - Into The Blue
It largely finds itself coasting on one level.
20th August 2021
2-5 Stars
Swim School - Making Sense Of It All
Hampered by an unshakeable sense that they’re only just getting out of first gear.
20th August 2021
2-5 Stars
Inhaler - It Won’t Always Be Like This
The one point there is a spark here is a case of too little too late.
9th July 2021
2-5 Stars
Sons of Raphael - Full-Throated Messianic Homage
What it’s less adept at is giving us anything memorable; a song; even something to feel.
21st May 2021
2-5 Stars
Weezer - Van Weezer
It just doesn’t make sense.
7th May 2021
2-5 Stars
Crumb - Ice Melt
‘Ice Melt’ struggles to reach the same bright heights as its predecessor. From the off, it’s simply boring.
30th April 2021
2-5 Stars
London Grammar - Californian Soil
It’s all still as magnolia-hued as before.
16th April 2021
2-5 Stars
Middle Kids - Today We’re The Greatest
A little bit middle-of-the-road.
19th March 2021
2-5 Stars
TV Priest - Uppers
You could probably hum a fair approximation of ‘Uppers’ without actually listening to it.
5th February 2021
2-5 Stars
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - New Fragility
It toggles between social awareness and slack harmonies in an interplay that never fully attains the unity it craves.
29th January 2021
2-5 Stars
Partner - Never Give Up
A record that exudes potential but tends to canter as much as it gallops.
20th November 2020
2-5 Stars
October And The Eyes - Dogs and Gods
There’s the unfortunate sense that this six-track release is too one-dimensional to make the newcomer’s name stick.
20th November 2020
2-5 Stars
Paul Epworth - Voyager
Is ‘Voyager’ a trip worth taking?
11th September 2020
2-5 Stars
No Age - Goons Be Gone
There’s something slightly off.
5th June 2020
2-5 Stars
Sébastien Tellier - Domesticated
The killer instinct that defines his best work is missing here.
24th April 2020
2-5 Stars
EOB - Earth
Too indirect and underplayed.
17th April 2020
2-5 Stars
Deap Lips - Deap Lips
By each party’s style rubbing off on the other, they’ve also sanded them down.
13th March 2020
2-5 Stars
Allie X - Cape God
There are undeniably beautiful and anthemic moments here, but on the whole it falls short.
21st February 2020
2-5 Stars
Nelson Can - So Long Desire
Nelson Can have demonstrated a hitherto unseen ambition with ‘So Long Desire’.
31st January 2020
2-5 Stars
Girl Ray - Girl
Like watching strangers from across a dance floor.
8th November 2019
2-5 Stars
Liz Lawrence - Pity Party
There’s promise on ‘Pity Party’, but Liz Lawrence remains a work in progress.
25th October 2019
2-5 Stars
Of Monsters and Men - Fever Dream
A bit limp.
26th July 2019
2-5 Stars
The Black Keys - “Let’s Rock”
A depressingly unimaginative thing.
28th June 2019
2-5 Stars
Stealing Sheep - Big Wows
There’s enough sugar here to make even the sweetest tooth ache.
19th April 2019