Nite Songs

  Well, a cursory glance outside your window will tell you that the nights are drawing in so what better place to seek solace than here in the Singles Bar. As with last month, the offerings this time out are an eclectic mix of singles, EP's and a token mini-album so let's mix something up and see what happens... *** Well the big news this month is we're finally getting the multiple times postponed UK tour from the one and only Mr Billy Idol and to celebrate, he's issued a new EP, The Cage (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑). Honestly, it might just be the best thing I've heard from him since Devil's Playground  a good decade and a half ago with a good mix of stuff that shows off all facets of his musical style from the stomping title track through the pounding goth ballad Running From The Ghost  and the affectionate nod back to his '80s stadium rock heyday Rebel Like You  to the twisted groove of Miss Nobody . After the solid but unspectacular Kings and Queens of the Underground  ...

  You still here? Well, it may be near to closing time at the Singles Bar for this month but we've got a few late stragglers nipping in for a pre-last orders pint along with a couple of mini-albums (something we've not had many of this year for some reason) just to round things off for this month. One for the road then?... *** Marc Valentine is probably best known as frontman with the excellent Last Great Dreamers and with that band on a temporary hiatus at present has decided to put out a solo album called Future Obscure  (due in July) with Last Train Tonight  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) being released as the lead-off single. There's a definite hint of T-Rex here in the vocals but with a driving riff that makes it an intriguingly individual proposition. Consider me looking forward to that album.  Bandcamp Link You can usually rely on Rum Bar records to brighten your day up with some decent music and Jay Allen and the Archcriminals  are another band to emerge from their stable...

  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 ...

August always seems to be a bit of a quiet time for releases and to be honest, it has been a bit quieter than usual at the Singles Bar this month. However, we've done a bit of rooting around to find a few potential gems we might've missed in the last few months as well as a handful of new releases plus a couple of mini-albums for you so if you'd be so kind as to head out on to the roof terrace and soak up the sun a bit, we'll get our selection over to you straight away. Well, we started with a Wildhearts  single last month and we do so again this month with the excellent Sort Your Fucking Shit Out  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗) another promising salvo from the upcoming 21st Century Love Songs  album. Poppier than last month's Remember These Days , it still packs enough unexpected twists and turns to what initially appears to be a straightforward slice of pop-punk but builds up to a furious crescendo. Great stuff. We've already encountered Norwegian pop-punks The Cocktail Slipper...

  Former frontman with the Leftovers, Kurt Baker is an American ex-pat currently living in Spain and After Party  is his first solo record since signing to Little Steven's Wicked Cool records (although he's already put out four records on there with his band the Kurt Baker Combo). The obvious touchstone here is Cheap Trick - Baker definitely specialises in sunshiny power pop as evidenced on songs like I Like Her A Lot  and Over You . In fact After Party would've been a perfect album for sitting round in the garden with your mates on a hot summer's day with a paddling pool full of beer cooling. None of which obviously happened this year so the fact that he's put it out just as autumn's turning to winter feels like a bit less of a blow than it otherwise might've. It's a solid album rather than a spectacular one - I kind of feel like the relentless cheeriness starts to wear a bit as side one of the album turns into side two and it might've been good to ...