The Nite Songs Singles Bar August 2021

August always seems to be a bit of a quiet time for releases and to be honest, it has been a bit quieter than usual at the Singles Bar this month. However, we've done a bit of rooting around to find a few potential gems we might've missed in the last few months as well as a handful of new releases plus a couple of mini-albums for you so if you'd be so kind as to head out on to the roof terrace and soak up the sun a bit, we'll get our selection over to you straight away.

Well, we started with a Wildhearts single last month and we do so again this month with the excellent Sort Your Fucking Shit Out (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗) another promising salvo from the upcoming 21st Century Love Songs album. Poppier than last month's Remember These Days, it still packs enough unexpected twists and turns to what initially appears to be a straightforward slice of pop-punk but builds up to a furious crescendo. Great stuff.

We've already encountered Norwegian pop-punks The Cocktail Slippers in this column previously and they've got a new album due in the autumn with She Devil (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) being the second single from it. Combining the garage rock sensibilities of the Go-Go's with the pure pop melodies of the Ronettes and a touch of the Dream Nails' feminist spikiness and you've got a winning combination in my opinion.  B-side Too Good To Be True sees their Shirelles/Ronettes influence coming to the fore with a big soaring old school ballad with a rocket engine strapped to it. Looking forward to giving the album a spin when it lands here. Bandcamp link here.

Kewpid are signed to Rum Bar records and like all the best bands on that label, they definitely owe a bit of a debt to Cheap Trick in their sound. The two track Love Letters (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) single kicks in with Tunnel of Love which sounds like a cross between ver Trick and Machine Gun Etiquette era Damned - a strange brew but it definitely works, for some reason the singer conjures up images of what might happen if Glenn Danzig joined a pop-punk band - sounds weird I know but I swear it's the truth. B-side Starcrossed is more standard Ramones indebted fare but still a respectable effort. Bandcamp link here.

We last encountered Kurt Baker when we reviewed his After Party album at the tail end of last year and Any Time At All (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑) sees him carrying on his vein of tuneful pop-punk with its I Want Candy style harmonica and chantalong chorus. Yes, the lyrics are a bit generic but Kurt sounds like he's having such a blast here that you can't help but smile and tap your foot along to it. Hell, sometimes simplicity is the best approach y'know? Bandcamp link here.

Well blimey, here's a name I'd not heard for a long time - River City Rebels briefly looked like being the band to pick up the Thunders/Bators torch in the mid-noughties with their excellent Hate To Be Loved album only to seemingly disappear off the radar just as soon as they'd arrived. Now on the comeback trail, Headed To Hell (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑) sees them in a more reflective mood than when we last heard from them with its countrified feel, skeletal acoustic and piano led arrangements, and dark lyrics about death on the two songs Hades and Shiny Gun (though to be fair there's a definite resemblance to the Dead Boys' Not Anymore here musically). Not what I was expecting at all but it's good to see 'em back either way. Bandcamp link here

Signed to Screaming Crow Records, the same as the River City Rebels currently are, The Cheats remind me of the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs a bit with their muscular take on pop-punk and given that the Cheetahs have been responsible for one of my favourite albums of this year so far, that's no bad thing. Rock 'n' Roll Love Letter (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) is pure rock 'n' roll Ronseal with its naggingly insistent chorus, doo-wop vocals on the chorus and general sense that the band's having great fun here which always makes things a bit more enjoyable. B-side Cussin', Cryin' And Carryin' On is even better, sounding like some great unholy collision between the Dead Boys and the Supersuckers. Great stuff. Bandcamp link here

As the world starts to wake up again after Covid, it seems as if a lot of musicians are suddenly whirring back into life with much-delayed albums. Steve Conte, of Michael Monroe and New York Dolls fame, is one such guy having returned with the Recovery Doll single last month and this month sees Dog Days Of Summer (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑), another preview for his upcoming Bronx Cheer album see the light. It might just be the strongest cut yet as well - a lovely laid back slice of Tom Petty style summer wistfulness which comes highly recommended. Bandcamp link here

It's been a couple of years since we last heard from Jizzy Pearl's Love/Hate and their new single Soul Mama (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑) has a funk strut to it which recalls their third album Let's Rumble but, thankfully, a bit better than that rather inconsistent effort. Jizzo still sounds like he's the sort of guy who'd rip your throat out given half the chance with his coruscating vocals and this is a respectable effort.

Smashed Gladys were one of those great should've been bands of the late '80s sleaze rock scene and their Social Intercourse album is one of those gleefully dumb albums that barrels through with its sheer knucklehead joie de vivre. The untimely passing of singer Sally Cato last year has led to the group reuniting to put out their unreleased third album and Never Take No (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑) is the second lead-off single for it. It's exactly the sort of big, dumb defiant singalong you'd expect (there's a definite hint of Kiss' Crazy Crazy Nights in here) although it's got a bit more of a rough around the edges feel to it as you'd probably expect from something that's basically a polished up demo but there's enough of everything that made them such a great group in there to make it more than enjoyable.

The Singles Bar this month has definitely had a bit of an American feel to it but thankfully Sarf London brawlers Chubby & The Gang are here to redress that particular balance. We first encountered them via their Speed Kills album late last year and Lightning Don't Strike Twice (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) is pretty much a straight continuation of that album as it barrels in with all the subtlety of a nail gun to the mush before going into a weird almost cowpunk middle section. B-side Life's Lemons, however, is a real curveball, a wistful and reflective almost doo-wop style lament which proves that they're starting to test their musical boundaries a bit and is surely to be encouraged. New album on its way in the autumn apparently - consider us interested. Bandcamp link here

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Anyway, it would appear your friendly singles barman got blindsided a bit here. After remarking at the start of this column how August's always the quiet time of year for new singles, no sooner had I finished writing this column then literally about five more newies landed on my desk! So I guess that means there'll be a part 2 incoming this month - check back this afternoon to find out more...