Nite Songs

Many years ago while writing for the sadly missed Bubblegum Slut  fanzine, I used to do a column called Songs From A Wasted Youth , written with the aim of looking back at groups from my younger years who I raved about at the time but for whatever reason just never quite got the rub of the green when it came to lasting success or a proper legacy. It was, I'll hold my hands up and admit, a kind of sly semi-cadge of the legendary Flash Metal Suicide  feature on the excellent Sleazegrinder  website and it's a format I've tried to revive in various 'zines I've written for since including Lost In Rock  on Pure Rawk  which sadly didn't last beyond one solitary episode and a few features on my old blog Shouting, Pointing And Ranting . So with me starting a new blog, it seemed like a good enough idea to try and relaunch this whole idea all over again. Sounds From The Junkshop  was actually very nearly the title of this blog as it seemed to kind of encapsulate the w...

For music fans of a certain age (mostly ones who grew up in the early to late nineties), hearing the name Snuff will cause a big grin to come across your face and memories of frenzied gigs at your local toilet circuit venue which usually ended with you stumbling out on to the pavement missing a shoe afterwards to spring to mind (or maybe that's just me...) Whatever though, it's always good to see a new album from Dunc and co appear in the review pile and it's a real pleasure to announce that There's A Lot Of It About  is one of Snuff's strongest albums for a good few years. And there's not many bands who've been around for three decades now that you can say that about. It kicks off in good style with the frenetic Kings Of The Spanish Oi Scene  and the poppy Summer's Over  to really get this one off to a flyer and doesn't let up throughout. While Love Hearts and Bob's Song  are the sound of Snuff piling in with the guitars and shoutalong ch...

Goth/pagan rockers Inkubus Sukkubus have been doing the rounds for over three decades now and honestly, it's a bit of a surprise that they're still very much an underground band. Especially when you consider that bands such as Evanescence and Nightwish essentially took their formula, drained it of all subtlety, whacked a load of brickbat guitars on it and successfully sold it on to the mallrat-metal crowd around the turn of the millennium. It's a real shame because on the evidence of this, no less than their twenty second album, they're a far superior proposition to both of the above. As you'd expect, Lilith Rising  is all tales of mist-drenched forests, dark moorlands, witches, vampires and soothsayers but before you start sniggering, it's actually pretty impressive stuff musically with the swooping strings on the title track being followed by the subtle acoustics of Wise Woman . It's this mix of light and dark that sets the tone for the album with th...

The Wannabes are the musical brainchild of Nottingham resident Wayne Zenith and from looking at the guy's  Bandcamp page , I think it's fair to say he's a somewhat prolific feller with over 50 releases under various incarnations on there. Musically, as the title and artwork probably suggest, it's pretty straightforward Ramones style three-chord headbanger territory (including a competent cover of Rockaway Beach ) with a touch of the Cramps' gleefully sicko gorehound tendencies as songs with titles such as I Was There At The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Stuff Cindy In The Incinerator  suggest. There's a few little tricks in there to ensure this doesn't fall into one trick pony territory though with the keyboards over the top actually adding a bit of a '60s Nuggets  style feel to some of the songs especially opener Somehow  which even has an extended piano-led break in the middle - brave move but it works. The more moody mid-paced Drag You Down  (whic...

The tragic passing of keyboard wizard Dave Greenfield during the COVID-19 outbreak a couple of months ago looks to have brought the curtain down on the long and storied career of the Stranglers. Mainstays of the punk scene and well beyond, the Meninblack truly were one of the greats of the era with a genuinely unique sound that set them well apart from their peers in the class of '77. Originally starting up in the pub rock era, they were one of many bands who saw an opportunity to hitch themselves to the Pistols' bandwagon when it started up. Many bands who attempted similar were rapidly kicked off by McLaren and co but the Stranglers had a real menace and mean streak to their music that allowed them to seamlessly fit in with the new music scene. Powered along by Hugh Cornwell and JJ Burnel's snarling vocals, Burnel's rumbling bass and Greenfield's keyboard wizardry, not to mention the experienced head of Jet Black behind the drumkit, their first two albums rema...

Your correspondent first ran into New York based power-pop types Baby Shakes at the Pump It Up Power-Pop Weekend concert in London a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised by their tight-as-you-like take on garage rock. Now on their fourth album, Cause A Scene  is a good effort which hits home with power and precision. Imagine if the Donnas had grown up listening to the Buzzcocks and the Undertones rather than Kiss and Judas Priest and you wouldn't be a million miles off. Songs like the title track, Nowhere Fast, Love Song In Reverse  and Down  are well and truly locked in and will have your toe tapping along from the off with melodies that'll stick in your head and stubbornly refuse to leave. Meanwhile they cover Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?  by Aussie rockers the Angels and comprehensively put their own stamp on it to good effect. If this band had come along in the wake of the garage band boom of 15-20 years ago then I think it's fair to sa...

There's been plenty of bands come along over the years who've tried to capture the magic of the great and good New York Dolls on record but I'd definitely stick my neck out and say that the Sweet Things are one of the stronger ones to have emerged in recent years. Hailing from the Big Apple (where else?), In Borrowed Shoes On Borrowed Time  is a glammed-up riot of an album with the ten songs fair zipping by. Yes, it's a fairly obvious set of influences but the sloppy Thunders style riffs, honking harmonica and David Johansen Noo Yoik style drawl on the songs is done with enough energy and enthusiasm to make this a very enjoyable listen - songs such as Liquor Lightning , Dead Or Worse , Through The Cracks of the City and Fix To Kick  have just the right amount of scummy charm to keep you interested throughout. If there's a slight complaint to be made here, it's that the Sweet Things don't really vary their sound up much with only the sprawling Stonesy...

Warm and dark and the moon is low I try to think of a better place I'd like to go All alone in a room of friends The kind of night that I almost hope would never end... I'll be there with my nite songs Summer fun with the radio on I'll be there with my nite songs Feelin' right when nothing is wrong Nothing could be this good Nothing here ever could It's bigger than Hollywood... The Wildhearts - "Nite Songs" (1996) *** So welcome to a new music webzine (I think that's the correct term?) dedicated to a mixture of the bright and dark sides of alternative and rock music. A Bit About Us (or rather me to be precise) Well, my name's Andy James and I've been working as a fanzine journalist for, scarily, around 24 years now and been a gig-goer for, even more scarily, about 28. I've previously written for (in reverse chronological order) Pure Rawk, Sinzine, Bubblegum Slut, Leeds Music Scene and Sandman plus a load of student publi...