The Vaselines- Sex with an X (Sub Pop Records)
September 14th, 2010
5.2/6.0

Reunited after twenty years of proving their musical worth as solo musicians, Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee have given the world a fun-filled reminder of what bought them to the attention of the music buying public.

Everything Everything – Man Alive (Geffen Records)
August 30th, 2010
5.8/6.0

Sure, Everything Everything sound as if they might be a bit crackers, but it’s all meaningful, brilliant eccentricity. Gibberish, danceable hooks and lyrics that blow other bands out of the water- what’s more to like?

Best Coast – Crazy For You (Wichita Records)
August 2nd, 2010
4.0/6.0

Bethany Cosentino writes surf pop songs about boys, love, her cat and getting high.

The Drums – The Drums
June 7th, 2010
2.5/6.0

Too often, The Drums seem to find something that works well and squeeze the life out of it, leaving a husk where there was something quite promising.

The Psychedelic Sounds of the Sonic Cathedral – A Tribute to Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators (Sonic Cathedral)
June 7th, 2010
5.3/6.0

Sonic Catheral co-opt an eclectic selection of acts from both sides of the pond to celebrate the early releases of an artist whose life story would be rejected by Hollywood executives as too far-fetched.

Steve Mason – Boys Outside (Double Six)
May 3rd, 2010
5.3/6.0

To the cult following of Mason’s former band, the offbeat production of keyboard based opener Understand My Heart will be seen as a welcome return to the sound which ironically bought critical acclaim at the very moment The Beta Band prematurely imploded.

Tim And Sam’s Tim And The Sam Band With Tim And Sam – Life Stream (Full of Joy Records)
May 3rd, 2010
5.0/6.0

The mind’s eye evokes a setting summer sun, and a warm feeling of contentment.

Pavement – Quarantine the Past (Domino Records)
March 8th, 2010
5.0/6.0

Dispensing with anything as routine as chronology, the record begins withCrooked Lane’s Gold Soundz and veers backwards and forwards throughout the band’s recording history.

Castrovalva – We Are A Unit (Brew Records)
April 12th, 2010
5.3/6.0

What unfolds is a delightfully fresh sounding take on the noise genre – ideas burst out of every second.

She & Him – Volume Two (Domino Records)
April 5th, 2010
5.0/6.0

Volume Two yearns for sixties nostalgia, wearing its country influences unashamedly on its sleeve.