Nite Songs

  We're into the top half of this list now so let's get going and breach upon the Top 30... *** 30.     KID KAPICHI - "There Goes The Neighbourhood" Kid Kapichi are simply one of the best punk bands in the UK today and while some of their contemporaries have put out sadly underwhelming albums this year (Idles and Pet Needs to name but two), these Hastings natives are continuing to go from strength with There Goes The Neighbourhood  introducing a new more melodic feel to their material without losing the fury varying from the anger of Can EU Hear Me  to the more reflective Tamagotchi  and the wistful stripped-down closer Jimi . Difficult second album? Nah, this is anything but. *** 29.     MARC VALENTINE - "Basement Sparks" Following up 2022's excellent Future Obscure  was always going to be a difficult task but in Basement Sparks , former Last Great Dreamers frontman Marc Valentine has delivered a worthy sophomore effort. Packed full of the r...

  Time for the third part of our end of year countdown as we reach the Top 40. As always, feel free to cue up the old chart rundown music from Radio 1 if it helps enhance the experience for you... *** 40. WET LEG - "Wet Leg" Yes, it's easy to be cynical about Wet Leg but the truth is that when all's said and done they came up with a bit of a cracker for their debut album. It's quite simply fun music with a lot of the songs having an endearingly gleeful vitriol to them. Yet there's a serious undercurrent there as well with the likes of Wet Dream  and Piece Of Shit  having a genuine anger underpinning the playfulness. For once, a case of the hype being deserved. *** 39. KAE TEMPEST - "The Line Is A Curve" Kae's first album since coming out as gender neutral is all about seeking solace in tough times, be that their recent struggles or the recent struggles all of us have had thanks to lockdown etc. Backed up by lush orchestration and with Tempest...

  Hailing from Hastings, Kid Kapichi appear to have been picking up a few plaudits in recent months so it seemed a good opportunity to check out what the fuss is about by giving their recently released second album a listen. And I'm happy to say that it's a case of the hype being justified. Basically, think Slaves or Sleaford Mods if they'd taken some songwriting lessons from Bob Vylan and you wouldn't be a million miles from Here's What You Could Have Won - it's a mixture of distorted riffs, electro bleeps and King Blues style half-spoken, half-snarled vocals ranting at the state of the nation. The manifesto is writ large on opener New England , a despairing howl of frustration at the "I'm alright Jack" mentality of the nation with its hookline of "Is it that you can't change or that you won't change?" . 5 Days On (2 Days Off)  is a furious diatribe against the brain-killing routine of nine to five work that anyone who's ever...