Nite Songs Top 50 Albums of 2023 - Part 3 (30-21)

 

30.    RISKEE & THE RIDICULE - "Platinum Statue"



Grime-punks Riskee & The Ridicule continue to be one of the most fierce and uncompromising bands in Britain on their second album. Bristling with righteous anger, Platinum Statue is a viciously desolate howl of frustration on behalf of the youth of today which urges the downtrodden to pick up a pitchfork and take aim at those running this country into the ground before it's too late over a none-more-tight musical backing. Essential listening.

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29.    THE MISTAKES - "A Good Hill To Die On"

Hailing from Dorset, this is the fourth album by thrash-punks the Mistakes and sees them barging forward to take their place as one of the most promising bands of the genre today. Tipping its hat to Motorhead and GBH in its sound and with a lorryload of pent up anger about the state of the country in 2023, the likes of Chaos Theory, I Savage and the title track are fine stuff indeed. Go and check this band out now.

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28.    DIRT BOX DISCO - "Rokapokalips"

Dirt Box Disco are now well into the second decade of their existence and it’s to their credit that Rokapokalips represents their strongest effort for a good few years. Simple, no-nonsense heads down riffed-up scuzzy punk rock the way it should be, the likes of Happy Pills, Kill The Music and Up The Dirtbox are the DBD formula at its most potent.

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27.    BLUR - "The Ballad Of Darren"

Given that their previous comeback record, 2015's The Magic Whip, was a bit of a disappointment which often seemed to be meandering around in search of a point, you'd have been forgiven for being a bit apprehensive about Blur recording new material in 2023. Yet The Ballad Of Darren was arguably the album its predecessor should have been, keeping the experimentalism of the group's later work but reining it in slightly with the tunes being more accessible and enough going on to ensure you were going to cue it up for a second listen straight away.

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26.    BAR STOOL PREACHERS - "Above The Static"

Bar Stool Preachers continue to be a formidable presence on the live scene and their third album sees them continuing to develop their sound ranging from brutal attacks on consumerist drones (Laptop) to surprisingly tender odes to dashed childhood dreams (Lighthouse Keeper). Arguably one of the most vital punk bands in Britain today, the Preachers are continuing to go from strength to strength.

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25.    THE BALLADMONGRELS - "Trouble"

The Balladmongrels are a collaboration between long time Dogs D'Amour frontman Tyla and his bandmate in the group's current line-up (and accomplished solo musician in his own right) Matty Cassidy. Trouble shows that this pairing definitely has some mileage in it with the likes of Highwayman Blues and Swingin' Jack being fine slices of ne'er-do-well scuzzed up balladry. Hopefully Trouble will be the first of many offerings from these two.

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24.    CREEPER - "Sanguivore"

I think it's fair to say that no-one was expecting this. Prior to Sanguivore, Creeper had a reputation as a competent bunch of snotty goth-punk upstarts so to see them return with a ludicrously ambitious goth opera tour de force owing more than a passing nod to the Sisters of Mercy's Floodland was a bit of a shock. Even more was that they carried it off with some aplomb - hugely overblown it may be but it's a thrilling ride all the way and sees this band properly come of age. Great stuff.

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23.    GREEN LUNG - "This Heathen Land"

When we first encountered Green Lung with 2021's Black Harvest, they seemed like a fairly promising group of stoner rockers who were at least trying to do something different with the tired NWOCR tag. Fast forward two years and it's safe to say they've come on in leaps and bounds - This Heathen Land shows them well and truly spreading their wings with a creepily atmospheric album steeped in the spookier end of Pagan folklore. Trust me, those plaudits were well deserved.

***

22.    DEPECHE MODE - "Memento Mori"

Overshadowed by the recent passing of Al Wilder, Depeche Mode's fifteenth album is as magnificently moody as you'd expect with Dave Gahan on top form on the vocals and Martin Gore providing the melodrama behind him on the likes of Caroline's Monkey and Never Let Me Go. It would be very easy for ver Mode to be phoning albums in at this point but that clearly isn't their way which is exactly why they continue to inspire such a large following worldwide.

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21.    EMILY BREEZE - "Rapture"

An album I was pretty much introduced to by accident, Rapture sees Emily Breeze reflecting on her life as she hits her forties and doing it in fine style. Hence while Ordinary Life and Confessions of an Aging Party Girl are wistful but humorous looks back at a twentysomething life less than wisely lived and and Chelsea Satanist rails against the disingenuous, there's an overriding sense of "older and wiser" about this album. A great effort which marks Breeze out as a great songwriter. 

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