Nite Songs Best Of 2021: Top 50 Albums Part 1 (50-41)

 

So here we go then. It took a lot of head-scratching, a lot of re-listening to albums that I'd reviewed months ago and at least ten rewrites but I'm happy to present the Nite Songs Top 50 Albums of 2021. Enjoy!

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50.    DESPERATE JOURNALIST - "Maximum Sorrow"

Desperate Journalist's fourth album sees them on good form with plenty of the same swooping dream-pop epics that recall the Cocteau Twins at their most ethereal as well as a few unexpected diversions into other waters that provide a welcome change of pace when it's needed. One of those groups who definitely deserve to be much better known than they are.

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49.    LUKE HAINES - "Setting The Dogs On The Post-Punk Postman"

Setting The Dogs On The Post-Punk Postman sees Haines on typically acerbic form whether he's skewering his targets or writing sinister whimsical odes to failed historical regimes. He's also on good form musically here veering from gentle folk through atonal post-punk to dark psychedelia. Proof positive that one of music's most unique characters has very much still got it.

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48.    PET NEEDS - "Fractured Party Music"

Colchester's Pet Needs are a post-punk band with bite. Fractured Party Music is packed full of vitriolic smalltown anger and packing hooks by the truckload while the occasional trip into Frank Turner style acoustic led folk-punk territory shows that they're a band not afraid to vary their sound up. On the evidence of this debut, this is a band with plenty of potential.

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47.    LOUP GAROUX - "Strangerlands"

Something of an indie supergroup, Loup Garoux's debut album comes on like Muse with the more ridiculous excesses thankfully reined in a bit. There's a definite leaning towards the more epic end of goth here with the big swirling soundscapes also owing a nod to Suede or the Manics in their early '90s heyday. We look forward to where they decide to go next.

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46.    JANE WEAVER - "Flock"

One that we missed first time out, Flock takes the alt-pop template and twists it into fascinating new shapes to great effect packing in catchy hooks and choruses but mixing them in with some thought-provoking lyrics and musical styles ranging from languorous psychedelia to Prince style guitar funk. Proof that Weaver is an exciting talent and worth keeping your eye on. 

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45.    THE SCARAMANGA SIX - "Worthless Music"

Scary to think that the Scaramanga Six are now into their third decade of existence. However, as Worthless Music shows, the creative fire in these Leeds stalwarts isn't dimming by any stretch of the imagination. Packing in short sharp shocks of post punk fury with menacing and twisted epics, they remain one of the most darkly fascinating bands to listen to on the alternative circuit.

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44.    THE CHUCK NORRIS EXPERIMENT - "This Will Leave A Mark"

Exactly what you'd want from a Chuck Norris Experiment album, This Will Leave A Mark sees these Swedish veterans packing in three-minute adrenalin blasts of scuzzy rock 'n' roll and flamethrower guitar riffs just like all the best bands of this genre do. With tips of the hat to the likes of AC/DC, Motorhead and the Dead Boys, it ain't big and it ain't clever but sometimes that's just the way we like it around here.

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43.    CHUBBY & THE GANG - "The Mutt's Nuts"

A big leap forward from their promising but slightly inconsistent debut, The Mutt's Nuts sees South London punks Chubby & The Gang starting to properly realise their potential. Taking the powerhouse punk of their debut and adding plenty of new tricks to the formula to keep the listener interested, it's no coincidence that they've been starting to pick up a few mentions in the mainstream alt press this year. Long may it continue.

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42.    SHE DREW THE GUN - "Behave Myself"

Another group starting to spread their wings to show the world what they're capable of, this second album from She Drew The Gun sounds like Goldfrapp at their sleekest but with a seething social and political anger bubbling away under the surface to add a whole new dimension to the formula and come up with something genuinely engaging. Another band very much in the ascendant at the moment.

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41.    WONK UNIT - "Uncle Daddy"

Still as brilliantly unique and unhinged a proposition as ever, Uncle Daddy was a welcome return from South London lo-fi punk mainstays Wonk Unit after a couple of years away. On the surface, it appears to be a straightforward spit 'n' sawdust punk album but the key with this band is they're happy to throw literally anything into the mix from pop-punk to thrash and ska. Very much a British punk institution and long may they continue to be so.

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