Nite Songs Best Of 2020 - Top 50 Albums Part 4 (20-11)

 


Getting close to the top of the chart now as we enter the alliteratively alluring Nite Songs' Top 20 albums of 2020. Some crackers in here and no mistake.

20. SPARKS - "A Steady Drip Drip Drip" (Review)


Scary to think that Sparks are now almost half a century into their careers. And scarier still that they're still putting out albums as great as A Steady Drip Drip Drip way after most of their contemporaries had given up the creative ghost. Taking in the group's formative glam stomp as well as excursions into everything from samba rhythms to music hall stylings to pure pop, this is just as much of a joy to listen to as ever. Great stuff.

***

19. DIABLOFURS - "Neon Satellites" (Review)


With controls firmly set to the new wave era of the early '80s. Nottingham glitter merchants Diablofurs came up with one of the best debut albums of 2020 mixing Tubeway Army style electronica with pure power-pop sensibilities to great effect on tunes like Rival Grrls and Pressure Don't Stop. Definitely a group you should keep a very close eye on going forward.

***

18. LEVELLERS - "Peace" (Bandcamp) (Review)


It's taken them a long time (nearly quarter of a century in fact) but with Peace, the Levellers have served up an album that suggests they've got more to offer up than reheated memories. Tapping into the tuneful political indie that characterised their imperial '90s phase, Hence we get the calls to arms of Food Roof Family and Our New Day mixing well with more thoughtful moments such as Four Boys Lost and Albion and Phoenix. A surprising return to form and one of the better comebacks of the year.

***

17. NICK MARSH - "Waltzing Bones" (Bandcamp) (Review)


Hard to believe it's now five years since former Flesh For Lulu/Urban Voodoo Machine man Nick Marsh left us but this posthumous album created from tracks he was working on at the time of his death and lovingly finished by his widow Katharine Blake (Medieval Baebes/Miranda Sex Garden) is a timely reminder of his skill as a musician and songwriter with tracks like the yearning Last Train To Wherever being a fine testament to his skill. Still much missed.

***

16. PUSSYCAT & THE DIRTY JOHNSONS - "Beast" (Review)


A decade and four albums into their career and Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons are still kicking up as much of an unholy racket as ever with Beast crammed chock full of venomous diatribes like Knee Jerk and Not Your Baby. Puss is on fine bile-spitting form here and behind her Jake and Ant keep things as clinically tight as always to create an excellent addition to this band's musical legacy.

***

15. BEACH SLANG - "The Deadbeat Bang Of Heartbreak City" (Bandcamp) (Review)


A decade into their career and Beach Slang are still putting out some of the coolest low-slung Replacements influenced loser-rock you're likely to hear. With none other than Tommy Stinson himself joining James Arthur on bass for this effort, songs like Tommy In The '80s and Bam Rang Rang are fine stuff and the likes of Stiff and the epic Bar No-One show that they can vary it up nicely as well. Well worth a listen for those who like their rock 'n' roll scuzzy and scuffed.

***

14. CAROL HODGE - "Savage Purge" (Bandcamp) (Review)


Sometime collaborator with Ginger Wildheart, Ryan Hamilton and Steve Ignorant among others, Carol Hodge's second solo album saw her really hitting her stride with a collection of supremely heartfelt songs ranging from the political anger of Virtue Signals to the stark domestic violence lament of In Case of Emergency and the gentle ode to growing old gracefully Let Gravity Win. A great album which really marks Hodge out as a talented musician and songwriter.

***

13. BOB MOULD - "Blue Hearts" (Bandcamp) (Review)


Following the more upbeat Sunshine Rock, Blue Hearts saw Bob Mould back to arguably his angriest since the days of Husker Du with songs such as Next Generation and American Crisis railing furiously against the US political system and Trump before things calmed down to more mid-paced waters on the second side. There's a reason why the guy has been a mainstay of the alternative music scene for nearly four decades now and Blue Hearts has all the proof you'll need.

***

12. SILVER SUN - "Switzerland" (Review)


We didn't know it at the time but Switzerland would turn out to be Silver Sun's final album due to the untimely passing of frontman James Broad in October. It's a good testament to the man's skill as a songwriter with all of the power pop fizz hiding deceptively dark lyrics that marked out their best stuff from back in the day with Fireworks and Chain of Command being particular highlights. They will be much missed.

***

11. AC/DC - "Power Up"


Honestly, I didn't go into the prospect of a new AC/DC album with particularly high hopes. Previous efforts Rock or Bust and Black Ice had been a bit disappointing and with a pantomime of comings and goings in the band in recent years, Australia's main rock import were starting to look worryingly like a spent force. However, Power Up was a good reminder of everything that makes AC/DC such a vital band and their strongest album since at least Stiff Upper Lip twenty years ago. The likes of Realise, Shot In The Dark and Wild Reputation were the sound of a band well and truly back to their best and a welcome reassurance that this band have very much still got it.

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