Nite Songs Top 50 Albums of 2023 - Part 1 (50-41)

 


Okay, here we go friends, once more unto the breach... You know how this thing works now, ten albums a day from now until New Year's Eve - Bandcamp links (where we've got 'em) by clicking on the title. Let's do this.

50.    ASH - "Race The Night"

I suppose the big problem with Ash is that, for better or worse, they will always be singing over the echoes of their glory years in the late '90s and early '00s. However, Race The Night might just be their strongest effort since Meltdown way back in 2004 - an enjoyable slice of power-pop with the tunes and melodies of old rightly pushed back to the fore where they belong. One of the more unexpectedly enjoyable comebacks of 2023.

***

49.    OBEY ROBOTS - "One In A Thousand"

This collaboration between Laura Kidd (She Makes War/Penfriend) and guitarist Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin) proved to be another good addition to both of the involved parties' back catalogue. A collection of dark odes to uncertainty which nevertheless manages to be strangely uplifting at the same time, One Is A Thousand unashamedly wears its heart on its sleeve and is all the better for it.

***

48.    MING CITY ROCKERS - "Lime"

It had all gone a bit quiet for Immingham's finest following their previous album, 2016's Lemon and the early days of 2023 saw them returning with a very different new image but the same stripped down rabid garage-rock sound that's become their calling card over the years. They may have been on a long break but Lime is proof that the Ming City Rockers still very much have something to say.

***

47.    GENE LOVES JEZEBEL - "Love Death Sorrow"

Jay Aston's version of GLJ made a better than expected comeback with their previous effort, 2017's Dance Underwater and Love Death Sorrow continues their good run of form. With Aston's languorous vocals being backed up well by James Stevenson's always-impressive guitar work, this is a good mix of quality originals and a few unexpected cover versions to round things out.

***

46.    DIRT BYRDS - "Standing In Line"

Rabid-as-you-like garage-punk from Northern Ireland, Standing In Line blasts through its ten tracks in a little under 23 minutes, coming across as a supremely frustrated howl of despair at the state of working class Britain in 2023 as evidenced on the likes of Yer Not Punk, Suburban Saturday Night and Daz Kapital. Recalling everyone from the Descendents to Leatherface, this isn't a bad effort at all.

***

45.    SKELETAL FAMILY - "Light From The Dark"

A comeback from Keighley's main musical export maybe wasn't something we were expecting at the start of the year but Light In The Dark was a much better effort from the goth veterans than it had any right to be. Skitterish and creepy the way the best of this kind of music should be but with undeniable hooks and tunes to keep your attention focused, it was a triumphant comeback for Skeletal Family and proves that there's definitely a fair bit of life left in this band yet.

***

44.    PUBLIC IMAGE LTD - "End Of World"

End Of World sees John Lydon in just as much of a scabrous mood as ever, whether he's railing curmudgeonly against the youth of today (Being Stupid Again), spouting off against vapid media luvvies (Pretty Awful) or aiming a vicious broadside at his former bandmates (LFCF). Yet it's the sly sense of humour underpinning the rage that makes End Of World such an enjoyable listen and the unexpectedly tender tribute to Lydon's late wife on closer Hawaii shows a different and not unwelcome gentler side to the man's character.

***

43.    BENEFITS - "Nails"


Some of the most brutal music you'll hear this year, Benefits are a rabidly angry political post-punk band from Middlesbrough who make the likes of Idles and Sleaford Mods look like the past-it has-beens that they are. Nails is anything but an easy listen and sometimes it almost stops resembling music at all but there's something about the sheer fury in here that makes it a hell of a compelling listen.

***

42.    ALABAMA 3 - "Cold War Classics Vol 2"

Two and a half decades into their career and Alabama 3 are continuing to resolutely tread their own path. All power to them as Cold War Classics Vol 2 is an album which has strength in variety, veering from the call to arms of Get On This One to the woozy California Got You Stoned. Still one of the most unique bands in Britain today, this is a group we should definitely treasure.

***

41.    PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS - "Land Of Sleeper"


Second album from Newcastle's premier stoner rock export, Land Of Sleeper does what every good sophomore effort should by taking the promise of Pigs' debut album and building on it with the added focus to the likes of Ultimate Hammer and Pipe Down making them arguably the band's strongest set of material to date.

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