Nite Songs Top 75 Albums of 2025 - Part 3 (50-41)

 


So here we go, the Top 50.

***

50. LILY ALLEN - "West End Girl"


It's probably inevitable that we will end up including at least one "big" album on this list but West End Girl genuinely is worthy of its place here. A brutally honest dissection by Allen of the end of her relationship, it shows that beneath the pop princess image is a very accomplished and savvy songwriter. Often uncomfortable but always cathartic listening, this might just be her best album to date.

***

Leeds natives Tulpa might just be one of the most exciting new bands your correspondent has encountered for some time. Taking a mixture of jangly guitars, power pop melodies and some surprisingly dark almost gothy lyrical themes, this brings up the unusual but not entirely unwelcome image of the Wedding Present, the Cure and the Go-Go's going for a few pints down the pub and swapping ideas. Good stuff.

***

48. MANIC STREET PREACHERS - "Critical Thinking"


For those of us as a certain age, the idea of the Manics as a solid dependable long term rock outfit still arguably takes a bit of getting used to but at least Critical Thinking shows that they've still got the ability to produce good albums and occasionally surprise you as proved by the confrontational title track sung by Nicky Wire here. Elsewhere, the likes of People Ruin Paintings, One Man Militia and Decline And Fall show that there's plenty of fire left in this band. 

***

47. THE CORDS - "The Cords"


We've mentioned earlier that 2025 ended up being a bit of a revival year for back-to-basics C86 influenced bands and the Cords might be one of the most promising of this new groups. The sound of indie stripped back to its bare basics, what makes it stand out is an enthusiasm and way with tunes that makes this such a promising debut from a band who look like very bright prospects.

***

46. HIS LORDSHIP - "Bored Animal"


Following up their much-acclaimed debut from last year so quickly could have been a minefield for His Lordship but Bored Animal was a worthy follow-up with the same stripped down garage rock approach writ large on the likes of Derek E Fudge, Johnny Got No Beef and I Fly Planes Into Hurricanes. The sound of a band getting their feet under the table in style.


One of those intriguing oddities that crops up every so often, the Reds, Pinks & Purples hail from San Francisco and The Past Is A Garden... is a big melting pot of an album that throws in a commendably diverse set of influences into its melting pot without meandering off into unlistenability - you'll hear echoes in here of everyone from the Byrds through the Television Personalities (again) and Dr Feelgood to Pulp. They may be one of the US underground's best kept secrets but on this evidence, this band deserve to be so much more.


Barrelling out of South London like some four-headed nightmare machine, Split Dogs have been building up a fearsome reputation on the live punk circuit and this second album sees them cementing their position as one of the movement’s brightest hopes nicely. Barrelling through its nine tracks in just 21 minutes and with all the subtlety of a brick to the face, this is definitely a group to keep an eye on.


On their third album, Ravagers are continuing to keep things commendably scummy. Mining the same Johnny Thunders/Stiv Bators vein of street rock 'n' roll as its predecessors, songs like Public Hell, No Tomorrow No Problem and Night of the Bastard show exactly why this group have been getting such a fearsome reputation in the last few years. Long may it continue.

***

42. BILLY IDOL - "Dream Into It"


A full decade since his last album, 2014's slightly underwhelming Kings And Queens of the Underground, Dream Into It at least saw Billy amping the guitars back up again to remind you what he's capable of given the circumstances. Featuring a supporting cast including Joan Jett, Alison Mosshart and Avril Lavigne of all people along with long time collaborator Steve Stevens popping up to supply the necessary guitar pyrotechnics, this is a pop-punk-metal delight.


They may now be in their fourth decade as a band (!) but it's heartening to see that Ash still haven't let go of that teenage space dream. Now well and truly settled into their 2020s power-pop incarnation, Ad Astra swings from new wave (Fun People) through moody introspection (My Favourite Ghost) to driving riffs (Hallion) to the epic Only Ones-indebted title track which features none other than Graham Coxon providing some six string back up. Quite possibly, this is Ash's best album since Meltdown two decades ago.

***

And so endeth today's part of the rundown. Tune back in tomorrow as we head into the Top 40, pop pickers...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The annual resurrection...

Image
  As is customary at this time of year, I'm giving the blog it's annual dust-off to look back at the best of 2025. We're slightly up on last year with a list of 75 albums which all in some small way rocked my particular world this year and which I reckon you should probably check out as well, starting with the first two instalments (75-61 and 60-51) on Boxing Day then ten a day to New Year's Day. Overall, I reckon it's been a pretty good year for music looking at the quality of the stuff in here and again, I'd like to think we've got a fairly varied list for you here which takes in everything from pop to metal, indie to rap and all sorts of other curveballs. From exciting new acts to established veterans to a few who've genuinely defied expectations to turn out their best albums in years, it spans all across the musical lifespan as well. As always, it ended up being a bit of a last minute rush job due to other people publishing their lists a week or two ...
Read more

Nite Songs Top 75 Albums of 2025 - Part 1 (75-61)

Image
  Okay, here we go, the Top 75 Albums of 2025 for Nite Songs starts here. This was originally going to be a Top 70 the same as last year until I realised I could fit fifteen labels into the box and, given there were a few that I thought were very unlucky to miss out on the list, I decided what the heck. So let's get this show on the road. *** 75.     THE LONG DECLINE - "Moribundiing" I think if there's one thing you wouldn't have put down for 2025, it was a revival of Television Personalities indebted DIY indie and the Long Decline definitely fall into that category with their endearingly shambolic take on '80s alternative. This is, however, an experienced band with three decades under their belt and links to post-punk originals Subway Sect and Alternative TV. Maybe a bit of an acquired taste but there's something fun about this album and I'd say it's definitely worth a listen. *** 74.     THE WYTCHES - "Talking Machine" The obvious templ...
Read more