Nite Songs

  And so the end is near...we present to you the ten best albums of the year just gone in our humble opinion... 10.     BEANS ON TOAST - "The Toothpaste And The Tube" Another regular presence in my end of year lists in recent years, The Toothpaste And The Tube  sees Jay McAllister aka Beans on Toast returning to the fray in fine form and taking on everything from the joys of life on tour ( Back Out On The Road , The Golden Lion ) through laments at the state of the country ( Hope & Glory , The Greenwash ) to enjoying the simpler things in life to get you through ( Swimming In The Sea , The Dragicorn ). McAllister is quite simply one of the best lyric writers in the country today and The Toothpaste And The Tube  is a fine place to start for those wanting to discover his work. *** 9.     CYANIDE PILLS - "Soundtrack To The New Cold War" Soundtrack To The New Cold War sees Leeds pop-punks the Cyanide Pills well and truly coming of age. The group have ...

  "God I miss David Bowie/He was my paperweight/And when he went back to Mars, man/I swear the stars looked very different that day" Thus sang Chris Catalyst on You Die At The End , one of the standout tracks from his debut solo album Life Is Often Brilliant a few years ago. So the arrival of a covers album of tracks from the Thin White Duke probably shouldn't come as a surprise from the Eureka Machines frontman and recently unmasked Ghost guitarist. Now, let's be honest, attempting a whole set of songs by an artist as seminal as Bowie is fraught with danger - most of us know these songs inside out and the question is, where can you take them that they haven't necessarily been taken to before? So Chris really deserves a lot of credit for pulling off something special here - while these songs are most definitely identifiable as their original versions, he's added just enough of his own stamp on them to ensure that it doesn't descend into slavish fanboy cop...

  So here we go...the big moment...who's won our Album Of The Year award? Read on to find out! *** 10.     L.A. GUNS - "Checkered Past" A real return to form for L.A. Guns and arguably the best album that's come out under this band's name in nearly three decades. Checkered Past  sees them retaining the heaviness of their recent efforts but applying them to the big fist-in-the-air template that they made their name with in the late '80s, veering from strutting AC/DC riff-fests through ferocious thrash to more moody introspective moments. Phil, Tracii and the rest of the guys can congratulate themselves on a job well done here. *** 9.     THE CORAL - "Coral Island" One which escaped our attention at the time, Coral Island  might just be the Coral's best album to date. Almost a world within a record, side one is pure blissful summertime psychedelia set at the titular seaside destination before side two sees winter roll around and things take a more ...

  Well, as with last year, we're doing a Christmas Special for the Singles Bar. Although disappointingly given that we had to add a whole extra section on to the column last month to accommodate all the festive stuff, this year the pickings have been a bit slimmer. Still, we've stocked up on the mulled wine so pour yourself a glass and let's see what's turned up in Santa's sack this time around. Starting with some non-festive stuff first though in the form of the Kut   and their new single Animo (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑) marking their return to the fray after a couple of years away. A chugging slice of pop-punk, this is a decent effort only let down slightly by the use of vocoder'd vocals on the chorus which is a bit painful on the ears. Not bad overall though and hopefully the second album will be along soon. We've been anticipating  the Scaramanga Six 's new album Worthless Music  for a while now and a review should be incoming any day now but in the meantime, Big ...

  So I think this is what they call sod's law - having started this column under the impression that August was going to be the "quiet bit of the year" and therefore a good opportunity to catch up with some stuff we'd missed in previous months, muggins 'ere promptly got sideswiped by a sudden avalanche of new releases the week before the thing went live and thus it became a two-parter. So here you go...a few more singles and a couple of mini-albums thrown in just because we're dead nice like that...  Anyway, kicking off the Singles Bar part 2, here's a name I've not heard for many years as Aussie garage rockers The Chevelles  return with their first new music in over a decade. Steve McQueen (I Wish I Was)  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) shows that the time hasn't changed them much but when you've got the right mix of pop-punk tunefulness and upstart snottiness that this has, that's no bad thing. Good to have you back with us gents. Bandcamp link here Speakin...

  Safe to say that this is an album that’s been hotly anticipated in these parts. Chris Catalyst (both solo and when he's fronting the Eureka Machines) is one of those guys where you can't help but wonder why someone who's such a talented songwriter with an ear for a great tune and perpetually able to keep the listener interested isn't someone able to sell out academy sized venues across the UK and regularly score Top 10 albums. It's been a couple of years since we last heard from Chris via the Eurekas' Victories  album - admittedly the Covid crisis did kind of get in the way of things but this album definitely reminds you how much we've missed the guy while he's been away. From the squalling riff of opener Make Good Art  (which features none other than Neil Gaiman reading out a manifesto while Chris provides the instrumentation), it's clear the guy means business here. King of Everything ,  Divide And Rule  and A Modern Adventure  see not only Catal...

  So here we go - the first Nite Songs end of year summary. It's been a very weird year and I'm sure I'll deal with some of the oddness when I come round to doing the first part of our Albums of the Year list tomorrow - certainly I don't think any of us ever envisaged 2020 turning out the way it did. One side effect of the changing nature of the music business and the circumstances brought on by the pandemic though is a massive increase in the number of bands putting out EP's and mini-albums this year. Extra time on people's hands? Quicker and more cost-effective than having to devote time to making a full album especially when you're stuck indoors and having to record it on your own equipment rather than using a professional studio? Dictated due to band members having to work remotely? Probably a bit of all the above. But either way, there's been some crackers come out which weren't quite long enough to be a full album and it seemed only right that ...