Nite Songs

  Okay, so this is it - the official Nite Songs Top 10 albums of 2022. Enjoy... *** 10.  THE HELLACOPTERS - "Eyes Of Oblivion" A comeback album that thankfully rather than being a faded retread of past glories was a timely reminder of everything that was great about the Hellacopters first time around. With a good mix of lightning precision garage rock and some unexpected sonic twists and turns all backed up by Nicke Andersson being his usual imperious self up front and a returning Dregen firing off the riffs to devastating effect, this was a triumphant return from this seminal band. *** 9. MILES HUNT - "Things Can Change" Recorded during the lockdown, Things Can Change  felt almost like an arm around the shoulder from Milo to reassure us that everything was gonna be alright. With a mix of slower introspective numbers and a couple of heavier interludes which were originally aimed for a Vent 414 reunion that never quite happened, it made for an enjoyably varied album ...

As that well known rock philosopher W Axl Rose once observed, it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain. I mean, he didn't say anything about reviewing new singles in it like but we've got to start somewhere. Anyway, come in and take some shelter from the storms outside why don'tcha and let's see what's on the singles bar this month shall we?... Anyway, starting us off as we take our seats at the bar this month are Bob Vylan , whose The Price Of Life  will almost certainly be up there when it comes to our end of year awards in a few months' time. Their new single The Delicate Nature  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕) featuring Slaves' Laurie Vincent might just be their strongest yet. Relatively restrained by the Vylan standards, it still has plenty of the anger of old directed against gentrification and the cleansing of underprivileged inner city areas but opts for a new stealthier approach railing against gentrification before amping up to a brutally heavy outro....

  So here we go again. After the absolute deluge of new singles last month, thankfully June has been a little bit quieter with us back to being able to condense all the new releases into a single Singles Bar but with some pretty exciting new stuff therein. Let's take a closer peek shall we? Mine's a large one landlord... *** I guess the obvious place to start this month is with the debut single from Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners  - Ginger has been touting his new post-Wildhearts band for the best part of a year now and it's good to finally hear some music from them. Worth the wait as well as Wasted Times  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗) is a most enjoyable slice of Stonesy strut (there's a definite Honky Tonk Women  influence here) which should be more than enough to get fans of the guy eagerly anticipating the forthcoming album. Good to have you back with us feller. Bandcamp Link *** Almost as highly anticipated around these parts is the new single from Suede  and I'm please...

  It seems safe to say that, as of time of writing, our Album of the Year race is currently a straight contest between Helen Love's This Is My World  and Bob Vylan's The Price Of Life  and there's something quite enjoyable about two such different records being up there as the best two of 2022 so far. While the Vylans' album was the sound of pure feral political anger dialled up to 12, Helen's was a gentle lookback at childhood, equal parts fond, nostalgic and heartbreaking. And, clearly intent on making hay while the sun shines, the Swansea trio have now capitalised on the good press by putting out this "unreleased gems" album of songs which didn't quite make the cut for their albums from 2013-2020 and most of which were actually being thought of as potential singles at one point. It's fitting that the opening song here, The Day We Saw The Jam Play , Helen's recollection of going to see Weller and co as a teenager ( "The boy next door had...

Our monthly trip to the Singles Bar takes place a bit earlier than usual this month as we’ve got a Sounds From The Junkshop Footnotes feature coming up next Saturday for you to look forward to. Not that it’s led to a smaller haul than normal with no less than fourteen (count ‘em!) new releases in this month’s column. Enjoy… *** And we're kicking off with some proper goth royalty here in the form of a new Bauhaus  single, their first in fourteen years no less, Drink The New Wine  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑). It's certainly an odd beast (then again, would you expect anything less?) with about four different sections including spaced out lyrics about being taken off to the funny farm then bass heavy dub then gentle acoustic guitars. Something of a dark epic here but it's naggingly insistent in its weirdness and doesn't let you go throughout. Is a new album in the works? Dunno but even if not, this is an intriguingly addictive slice of weirdness which could only have come from the minds o...

  Scary to think that Helen Love are now approaching 30 years together as a band. There was a time for about five minutes in 1997 or so when they were briefly threatening to be the next "big thing" with both John Peel and Steve Lamacq championing their singles only to torpedo their career in fine self-sabotaging style with the scathing anti-Britpop single Long Live The UK Music Scene . Not that it stopped them - they simply continued merrily on their way on the minors with a series of albums with This Is My World  being no less than either their fifth or eighth (depending on whether you're counting their three EP compilations). And it finds the band in, if not a more grown-up (let's be honest, if they did that it'd arguably spoil everything that makes them such a great band) then certainly a more reflective mood with Helen, Sheena and Ricardo looking back at a life lived as an indie circuit band in Swansea. And I'm gonna come straight to the point here, they...

  And so we reach the halfway point of our Albums of the Year rundown. Bring on the Top 30... 30. HELEN LOVE - "Power On" ( Bandcamp ) ( Review ) Still as endearingly enthusiastic about everything as ever, this latest album from indie veterans Helen Love provided a much needed dose of sunshine, sherbet and singalongability when the world needed it most. Songs such as Debbie Take Control Of The Stereo  and Dead In My Head  were a real delight with the band putting their stamp on the material in their own inimitable style. Long may they reign. *** 29. FAZ WALTZ - "Rebel Kicks" ( Bandcamp ) ( Review ) Still Italy's premier exponents of '70s style bootboy glam, Rebel Kicks  is another good offering from Faz Waltz. Sure, the influences are nothing you won't expect - Slade, T-Rex, Mott The Hoople but when the result is cracking tunes like the Stonesy Born In  The Wrong Time  and the strutting Chuck Berry style riff of Last Train To Nowhere , it's well and ...