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 ...

  Kubix Day 1 Review here And so on to Day 2 of Kubix. While yesterday was a fairly slow-paced opening day to the festival, today proves to be a lot more busy with several stage clashes. In the interest of covering as much as possible, please be aware that for quite a few of the bands I've reviewed here, I didn't catch the full set due to hot footing it to/from the other stage. But hopefully I've done this justice... It's weird how a nice sunny day (a stark contrast to yesterday which alternated between clouds and rain) can make even bands you weren't a fan of first time out seem pleasant enough and Republica , who open the Main Stage today, are a case in point. Back when I was 18, I generally found their Essex girl techno-Britpop about as much fun as root canal surgery without the anaesthetic but today they're enjoyable enough with an energy and enthusiasm to their set that means you'd have to be a bit of a miserable bugger not to enjoy it. They play the hi...

  Yup, it's that time again. Similar to last month, a bit of a bumper crop this month with the Singles Bar meaning we've officially got our first multi-parter of the year with no less than three instalments coming at ya this morning. First bit here and the second bit'll be up in an hour or so. Enjoy... *** Well the obvious big news this month is a new Michael Monroe  single and Can't Stop Falling Apart  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗) is a confident comeback from the guy - a mid-paced ode to sticking to your guns and not giving up which builds up to a trademark big Monroe singalong chorus which has a definite hint of the early '70s Stones in there. The frenetic B-side Murder The Summer Of Love  is even better with its panic attack vibes and angry message showing a definite nod to Mike's old mucker Stiv Bators. Good stuff - roll on the album! *** Those of you with long memories may recall that the Sweet Things ' In Borrowed Shoes On Borrowed Time  was the first album we ever re...

"So bury me now/Safely and sound/There's a place in the ground for the insecure"  - Jim's Super Stereoworld  - The Happiest Man Alive Those with long memories may recall that when we did our first ever Sounds From The Junkshop way back in August 2020, the band featured were your correspondent's teenage favourites Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and it's safe to say that although the band split in 1998, the story of my following Jim Bob and Fruitbat wasn't done with by a long shot. As the millennium drew to a close, both would resurface, Fruity in Abdoujaparov and Jim in Jim's Super Stereoworld with latter day Carter bassist and former S*M*A*S*H* man Salv also coming along for the ride. Jim's Super Stereoworld would see Jim Bob leaving the political slant of Carter behind for a more pop-oriented approach with a quirky sense of humour behind it and it worked pretty well. Unfortunately at this point, Carter were generally regarded as yesterday...

  Top 20 time then - hopefully a few albums on here you might have missed first time out and will enjoy giving a much deserved listen to. Tune back in for the Top 10 tomorrow... *** 20.     CAROL HODGE - "The Crippling Space Between" Hodge's third solo album sees her in good form, mixing light and shade to brilliant effect. Informed by the strange climate that lockdown brought on, by turns angry and hopeful, despairing and optimistic, it runs the full gauntlet of emotions that a lot of us felt during those weird months. She may still be one of the UK music industry's best kept secrets but on the evidence of The Crippling Space Between , it's really time that somebody changed that and she received the recognition she deserves. *** 19.     MINISTRY - "Moral Hygiene" Times like this provide rich fodder for Al Jourgensen and Moral Hygiene  is arguably Ministry's strongest album for over a decade. As you'd expect, it doesn't let up on the heavines...