Nite Songs

  Okay, so this is it - the official Nite Songs Top 10 albums of 2022. Enjoy... *** 10.  THE HELLACOPTERS - "Eyes Of Oblivion" A comeback album that thankfully rather than being a faded retread of past glories was a timely reminder of everything that was great about the Hellacopters first time around. With a good mix of lightning precision garage rock and some unexpected sonic twists and turns all backed up by Nicke Andersson being his usual imperious self up front and a returning Dregen firing off the riffs to devastating effect, this was a triumphant return from this seminal band. *** 9. MILES HUNT - "Things Can Change" Recorded during the lockdown, Things Can Change  felt almost like an arm around the shoulder from Milo to reassure us that everything was gonna be alright. With a mix of slower introspective numbers and a couple of heavier interludes which were originally aimed for a Vent 414 reunion that never quite happened, it made for an enjoyably varied album

  So we're almost there now and getting into the stuff we really  liked from the last 12 months. Top 10 tomorrow but first let's see what made the Top 20... *** 20. JANUS STARK - "Face Your Biggest Fear" Safe to say that Britrock mainstays Janus Stark well and truly exceeded our expectations with this album. Built on a band with a rock solid tightness, it has a good mix of full throttle punk assaults ( Clusterfuck ) and more melodic moments ( One More Ghost ) and sees Giz Butt and co well and truly casting off their tag of being one of the genre's second division bands to well and truly announce their arrival at the big boys' table. *** 19. STENFORS - "The Family Album" The brainchild of former Hanoi Rocks guitarist Nasty Suicide, Stenfors' debut was a supremely self-assured album which mixes in a ton of well-established influences (rock 'n' roll, blues, country, even the odd bit of jazz-pop) but does so in a way that you don't expect

  Approaching the upper echelons of our end of year list now - read on to find out what's made our Top 30 albums for this year... *** 30. BEFORE VICTORIA - "Moving Forward" Stepping away from his career as a writer and bassist for the Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, Moving Forward  saw Marc Burrows' side project Before Victoria very much sprout wings of its own and fly. Mixing elements of grunge, goth, new wave and the odd disarming acoustic confessional, this is a hell of a varied album but one that never loses your attention throughout. Burrows can definitely congratulate himself on a job well done here. *** 29. THE LINDA LINDAS - "Growing Up" Having come to the public's attention with the blistering anger of their Racist Sexist Boy  single, Growing Up proved that the Linda Lindas were definitely more than just back to basics punk rock. Sounding like X-Ray Spex jamming with early Ash, this was a well crafted selection of songs with a lyrical m

  Time for the third part of our end of year countdown as we reach the Top 40. As always, feel free to cue up the old chart rundown music from Radio 1 if it helps enhance the experience for you... *** 40. WET LEG - "Wet Leg" Yes, it's easy to be cynical about Wet Leg but the truth is that when all's said and done they came up with a bit of a cracker for their debut album. It's quite simply fun music with a lot of the songs having an endearingly gleeful vitriol to them. Yet there's a serious undercurrent there as well with the likes of Wet Dream  and Piece Of Shit  having a genuine anger underpinning the playfulness. For once, a case of the hype being deserved. *** 39. KAE TEMPEST - "The Line Is A Curve" Kae's first album since coming out as gender neutral is all about seeking solace in tough times, be that their recent struggles or the recent struggles all of us have had thanks to lockdown etc. Backed up by lush orchestration and with Tempest'

Okay, time for the big hitters - we did the first half of our Top 100 albums yesterday and now it's ten a day from now until the New Year. Settle down and let's see how the first part of our Top 50 unfolds, shall we?... *** 50. THE KUT - "Grit" Grit  saw the Kut deliver an album more than worthy of their commercial step up in the world, ironing out their old inconsistencies to deliver a well-rounded effort packing plenty of variety and some great tunes and hooks to boot from the driving riff of Not Here For Love  to the shameless power ballad of Satellite . The sound of a band very much arriving. *** 49. CINDY LAWSON - "New Tricks" Something of a local legend in her home state of Minnesota thanks to her '80s band the Clams, New Tricks  is an album that deserves to take Cindy Lawson to a wider audience. Mixing spiky pop-punk, Runaways style gang chants and even the odd bit of grunge and shoegazing for good measure, this is an album with its fingers in man