3 Stars
Liking the Kaiser Chiefs to Blur is no new idea, but the former need to stray further and more frequently from their aforementioned comfort zone if they are to continue to merit the attention they currently garner. This spikey LP is no step forward into the unknown from Leeds’ ‘Angry Mob’ and will win them few new fans; who knows if those that were lost will come crawling back.
23rd October 2008
3 Stars
It’s still head and (shaking) shoulders above any ‘world music’ set but yep, missing too many of those party-tricks that really make it something more than a holiday fling.
23rd October 2008
3 Stars
Among other things, such as mental illness, happy families and runaways, Saint Dymphna is said to be the patron saint of outsiders. Make of it what you will that Gang Gang Dance have broken their three year silence with an album that takes the name of the aforementioned saint, but whatever they are trying to represent it is hard to tell how well they are doing it.
17th October 2008
3 Stars
Nicely textured piano pop.
13th October 2008
3 Stars
Any videogame released in the eighties has an amazing soundtrack.
24th September 2008
3 Stars
When claims as high and mighty as those banded around of late are in play there’s a lot to live up to.
9th September 2008
3 Stars
Little more than the band looking smugly over their shoulder.
3rd September 2008
3 Stars
Welcome to the fifties with Kitty, Daisy and Lewis!
2nd September 2008
3 Stars
It’s difficult to work out what Fucked Up are aiming for.
14th August 2008
3 Stars
It amazingly isn’t until fourth track that the album settles down into a flow of lo-fi indie that lifts the album into a far more pleasant experience.
9th June 2008
3 Stars
‘The Last Tycoon’ is a pleasing diversion until the PB&J follow-up to ‘Writer’s Block’.
5th May 2008
3 Stars
There has been a paucity of exciting male pop stars of late, and it’s with interest that we’ve watched Sam Sparro’s ascendence.
28th April 2008
3 Stars
His nearly whispered vocal husk makes his sweet little songs all the sweeter.
26th February 2008
3 Stars
Cult British cinema blossoms with blanched, drugged-out faces and milky London mornings.
4th February 2008
3 Stars
Rock is, if you choose to believe North Carolina sextet Farewell, the preserve of the doom-laden, the ponderous and the just plain grumpy.
4th February 2008
3 Stars
It’s a shame that the record doesn’t seem to allow Adele to act her age: these feel like songs written for someone at least ten years older, if not more.
28th January 2008
3 Stars
Don’t let the rating be an affirmative guide. Rather, let it represent a sort of average between the two moods.
21st January 2008
3 Stars
There is a lot of romance in ‘Fireproof’, a candlelit album embroidered on eternal folk themes.
21st January 2008
3 Stars
The main lesson to be learnt from ‘Alone’ is that persistence makes perfect.
18th December 2007
3 Stars
We salute Neil’s carefree loopiness, surreally imaginative mind and ability to cut off from the past thirty-five years of music.
3rd December 2007
3 Stars
‘Frelen Mas’ stands more as an extension of ‘Be He Me’ than a collection of B‑sides.
6th November 2007
3 Stars
Keyboard Choir create the kind of multi-layered synthesised futuristic sounds that instantly conjure up images of Flash Gordon prancing around, trying to save the world.
5th November 2007
3 Stars
It’s all competent stuff, and it’s all basically listenable, but is that enough?
1st October 2007
3 Stars
Whilst Milburn might have the label investment to afford these new high-falutin’ ideas, you can’t change past perceptions.
24th September 2007
Featuring Yard Act, Death Cab For Cutie, Graham Coxon, Maisie Peters and more.