The Nite Songs Singles Bar October 2021 (Part 3 - EP's and mini-albums)
As we mentioned in Part 1 of this thing earlier today, the sheer volume of new stuff this month has led to this month's Singles Bar being a three-parter and here's the third bit with no less than seven new EP's and mini-albums (think that might be a record for this thing!) for your delectation.
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BILLY IDOL - "The Roadside EP"
We reviewed the lead off track from Billy's new EP, the downbeat Bitter Taste, last month in this column. However, any fears that this would be another album of mid-paced songs with few rock-outs as per his last album Kings And Queens of the Underground are, I'm pleased to say, unfounded as the raw punky lead off track Rita Hayworth kicks in sounding sleazier than a room full of crack-dealing pimps and thank feck for that.
Elsewhere, U Don't Have To Kiss Me Like That is a pulsating drum machine fired rocker that could have belonged on Billy's Whiplash Smile album and Baby Put Your Clothes Back On is a sinister slowie with some almost Spanish guitar style playing from Steve Stevens. Overall although this does feel a bit Idol-by-numbers in places, it's still a solid comeback effort and proves that Billy still has a bit of fire left in his tank. Hopefully a full album will be incoming from him sooner rather than later.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)
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THE EROTICS - “Ride It To Death”
Pleased to say that it doesn't disappoint - opener When The Wolves Are Howlin' is one part Blackie Lawless and one part Wednesday 13 back when they were both still writing quality tunes on a regular basis. Scream Like A Demon is even better with its rolling riff and shameless use of cowbell to create something which practically invites you to throw the horns and headbang along. The title track has a truly kick-arse riff to open it and grows into a sinister chugging number that sounds like Raise Your Fist And Yell era Alice Cooper. Bless Your Heart has another cracker of a riff (think Junkyard/Circus of Power territory) to fire it along and there's a cover of AC/DC's Can I Sit Next To You Girl? to finish things off.
I was genuinely impressed with this - as with all Erotics releases, it's not big and it's not clever but it's good no-nonsense sicko fun which does exactly what it says on the tin. Definitely well worth a listen.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)
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JOHNY SKULLKNUCKLES - "A Voice Made For Silent Radio"
A new five track offering from ex-Gold Blade guitarist and current Kopek Millionaires frontman Johny Skullknuckles. Opening track Still A Little Bit In Love With You sees him and his band marrying a Buzzcocks tale of broken heartedness with a Dead Boys style nasty streak to good effect. Gender Fluid takes on the titular subject with a combination of commendable sensitivity and some fired up filthiness while packing in a suitably kick-arse riff to power it along. Too Many Guys starts off as a fired up Stray Cats style rockabilly rave-up before going into full-on Ramones power-pop territory before Suicide And Smiles is a more wistful mid-tempo effort looking back at the golden days and wishing they'd lasted a bit longer.
A well-handled cover of Alice Cooper's Under My Wheels (although to be fair, that's a bit of a difficult one to screw up) before the breakneck riff of Wired finishes things off. A good six song slice of no-nonsense scuzzy sleazy punk rock 'n' roll which definitely exceeded my expectations. Well worth a look if that fits your idea of fun, I'd say.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)
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LAURA JANE GRACE - "At War With The Silverfish"
Following on from last year's Stay Alive album, At War With The Silverfish sees Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace continuing with the stripped down acoustic approach that yielded some good results with that release.
With the seven tracks on here coming in at just 13 minutes, there's a definite punk attitude about the place although a lot of the songs here deal with love and loss - opener Three Hearts has the tag line "Three hearts, two are broken, one is gold and all are worthless" while the likes of the surprisingly poppy Lolo 13 and Yesterday Pt 2 take a mournful reflective look at relationships gone bad in the past. Musically it's not all acoustic introspection though as the primitive drum machine of Long Dark Night and the synth strings on Electro-Static Sweep sees the music take a bit more of an upbeat turn even if the lyrics definitely don't.
As with a lot of Laura's work, easy listening this very much ain't but similar to Stay Alive, there's a real humanity here that you'd have to be pretty cold-hearted to discount. Worth a listen if you're feeling a bit down at the moment and need some reassurance that you're not out there alone in this world.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)
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KID KLUMSY - "Fair Dooz"
The second time we've reviewed a Kid Klumsy EP in these pages following on from last year's The Faces Don't Fit and to be honest, there's not been a huge amount of progress. They remain a solid ska punk band with a few decent ideas but just kind of lacking that killer tune to really make Fair Dooz a more than one listen affair.
That's not to say it's particularly bad - the likes of Coconut (dealing with circus sideshows) and the Offspring-ish Media almost show that they've got the odd way with a decent hook while the disco stylings of Song For Whoever (sadly not a punked up cover of the old Beautiful South standard) show that they can do versatility when the mood takes them. It's just that...I dunno, they just seem to be lacking that special spark to really elevate them up to something special. Decent enough then but there's better out there to be brutally honest.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌓🌓🌓🌓🌓🌓🌑🌑🌑🌑 (6/10)
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MEDIA WHORES - "A Light In A Dark Place"
Falkirk new-post-punk types the Media Whores first came to my attention with 2016's rather good Dangerous Minds album a few years ago and this is the belated follow-up. With song titles like Cruel Britannia and Las Vegas Of The North, it's pretty clear that they haven't mellowed any in the meantime and A Light In A Dark Place has echoes of everyone from Doctors of Madness (the aforementioned Cruel Britannia) to the Cure's early output (Sufferers). It's Alright even goes into almost punkabilly territory.
Lyrically they're fired up as well taking pot shots against racism (Albert Finney, Sufferers), the tedium of everyday life and the breakdowns it causes (Miss Inedible) and the joys of a weekend in Blackpool (Las Vegas Of The North). Arguably the one thing that slightly counts against this album is that there's not quite a real knockout blow in there to really cap the thing off but with plenty of effort and innovation here, this is definitely worth a look.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)
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DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR - "Delusions Of Grandeur"
It seems somewhat apt this month that we're finishing the Singles Bar with a four track EP from a supergroup of sorts comprising of off duty members of the Hip Priests and the Bitch Queens, two bands who would strike fear into the hearts of bartenders across the continent.
Essentially, it's everything you'd expect it to be with furious flamethrower guitars, the usual pissed-up nihilism with songs called Shit's Fucked and Drinking My Life Away but somehow it's just as addictive as you'd expect from these two, packing in an impressive rock 'n' roll ferocity that only those who genuinely get this sort of music can really hope to master. Definitely recommended then but I take no responsibility for where you might find yourself waking up the morning after listening to it.
NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)
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Right, sorry folks, we know the nights are getting colder out there but it's closing time (not least as I think Delusions of Grandeur might just have drunk the bar dry). Safe journey home y'all and we'll be back with our next instalment of the Singles Bar next month.
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