The Nite Songs Singles Bar May 2022 (part 3)

 

You still here? Well, it may be near to closing time at the Singles Bar for this month but we've got a few late stragglers nipping in for a pre-last orders pint along with a couple of mini-albums (something we've not had many of this year for some reason) just to round things off for this month. One for the road then?...

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Marc Valentine is probably best known as frontman with the excellent Last Great Dreamers and with that band on a temporary hiatus at present has decided to put out a solo album called Future Obscure (due in July) with Last Train Tonight (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) being released as the lead-off single. There's a definite hint of T-Rex here in the vocals but with a driving riff that makes it an intriguingly individual proposition. Consider me looking forward to that album. Bandcamp Link

You can usually rely on Rum Bar records to brighten your day up with some decent music and Jay Allen and the Archcriminals are another band to emerge from their stable with their new single Frying Pan Justice (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗) which sounds like a cross between the slacker cool of the Replacements and the skid row booze-addled rock 'n' roll of the Joneses. And let's be honest, you're not gonna go far wrong with ingredients like that - well worth a listen. Bandcamp Link

Into more melodic territory in the form of a duet between power-pop mainstay Kurt Baker and Bebe Buell (Liv Tyler's mum for the uninitiated) on Blood & Roses (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑). This isn't a bad effort either - almost power pop noir with a driving riff and some dark lyrics about the seedier side of life. Worth a listen for those who like sweet melodies with a murkier twist. Bandcamp Link

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MINI ALBUM REVIEWS

SPACE PISTOL - "Space Pistol"

Space Pistol hail from Milton Keynes and describe themselves as an alt-rock/grunge band so this really could have gone either way. However, I feel that the description's a bit wide of the mark - this is more like a rap-metal/thrash crossover on the evidence of lead off track Imposter Syndrome which sounds like a South Midlands Skindred which certainly isn't a bad place to be. Padded Tomb is propelled along by skittering guitars while Wormhole and Exploding Whale bulldoze through on satisfyingly crunchy riffs and see more of their proclaimed grunge influences coming to the fore before Someday pushes the tempo back up to bring the EP to a close.

It's not quite all killer no filler but this is certainly a promising lead-off from Space Pistol. They strike me as a band who are still in the process of nailing their sound down (if this EP has an Achilles heel, it's that they seem a bit reticient to let go of their grunge security blanket at times) but they're certainly well on the way to working out where they want to be. A bit more of an individual stamp to things next time out and I reckon they could just be ones to watch out for. Not bad.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

Bandcamp Link

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THE DOGMATICS - "Drop That Needle"

Another group from the Rum Bar stable, The Dogmatics are veterans of the power-pop scene in Massacheusetts and Drop That Needle is a straight-up garage punk rave-up with the title track being an ode to their peers in the local scene with an enjoyably singalong chorus.

The big stumbling block that tends to claim a lot of bands like this is tinny production in the search of (urgh) "authenticity" but I'm happy to report that there's no such issues here with this EP packing a satisfyingly meaty punch as it blasts out of your speakers. Tracks like Automat Kalashnikov, Acid Rain and Don't Break My Heart speed by in a riff of machine gun drumming, tight rhythms and Joey Ramone/Eugene Reynolds style vocals but as the gentle countrified led Think Twice shows, they're not afraid to branch out a bit when the need calls for it as well.

They may well have been around the block a fair few times but on Drop That Needle, the Dogmatics exude the sort of energy and enthusiasm that'd be impressive from a band in their early twenties plus a few tricks up their sleeve to surprise you. Definitely well worth a look. 

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

Bandcamp Link

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Well, it's been a bit of an epic session this month but hopefully you've all found something good to take home with you as we stagger off into the sunrise. Till next month folks...