Nite Songs

  Getting close to the top of the chart now as we head into the Top 20. Needless to say that anything in this bit you've missed, you really should investigate pronto... *** 20. GULP - "Beneath Strawberry Moons" A genuine unexpected triumph of an album - Gulp's third effort sounds like some sort of cross between the icy electronica of New Order and the laconic psychedelia of Mazzy Star with maybe a hint of All About Eve and Ooberman at their most melancholy. Featuring Super Furry Animals man Guto Pryce, this is another great album which seems to have undeservedly sailed under a lot of people's radars. *** 19. BENEFITS - "Constant Noise" Honestly, I'm not sure if Benefits actually could  have pulled the same trick twice following on from their debut album  Nails  last year. That record was so brutal and uncompromising, veering into pure white noise in places, that it really was the sort of thing you could only really listen to once. However, here's...

  On into the Top 30 we go then. Brace yourselves... *** 30.     RICKY WARWICK - "When Life Was Hard And Fast" When Life Was Hard And Fast   sees Ricky Warwick back to the no-nonsense rock music he's made his name with first in the Almighty and more recently with Black Star Riders. Veering from fired up punk to more moody reflective moments, this is straight ahead fist-in-the-air singalong rock anthems done by a master of the craft. Great stuff. *** 29.     BEANS ON TOAST - "Survival Of The Friendliest" Jay McAllister aka Beans On Toast is one of those songwriters who can make you see the light in even the most dark of times and Survival of the Friendliest  was a much needed ray of sunshine as the bleakness of December and the prospect of yet another lockdown set in. Working with a full band for this one, it's an album full of songs of hope to put an arm around your shoulder and see you through your long dark night of the soul. *** 28.     PE...

  Penfriend aka Laura Kidd has been a fairly regular presence on our monthly Singles Bar page with a number of releases in recent months but this is her first full album since putting her previous She Makes War persona to bed a couple of years back. And generally speaking they've all been pretty good as well so it's fair to say that the debut Penfriend album Exotic Monsters  (which has just crashed into the national Top 30 as I write this) comes with a fair bit of expectation attached to it. It gets off to a good start with two former singles, the brooding Gary Numan-meets-Alison-Goldfrapp title track and the lurching tale of dark childhood memories Seventeen  setting out the stall well here. The first new track comes with Hell Together , a creepy ode to being trapped in a co-habiting situation with someone you don't get on with (inspired by lockdown maybe?) with its refrain of "I can feel a storm coming..."  sounding incredibly ominous while the skeletal synth-dr...

  Blimey, is it that time again already? Welcome to the June instalment of the Singles Bar where, much the same as last month, we've got a good mix of concoctions on offer from all across the alternative spectrum. Take a chair, pull up a glass and let's sup... Anyway, we've got a genuine legend kicking things off for us this month in the form of Charlie Harper & The Sub Machine  and their new single Panic  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑). A lurching ode to the imminent environmental collapse with its swirling Stooges guitar and drums, this is a good effort from the UK Subs frontman and proof that old dogs very much can be taught new tricks. B-side, Post War Punks  is nearer to the choppy punk rock of Harper's day job and is also well worth a listen. Bandcamp link here . Charlie isn't the only UK Sub to have a single out away from his day job this month either - Alvin Gibbs & The Disobedient Servants , fronted up by the Subs bassist, also have a new release out in the State of ...

  Welcome to our monthly visit to the Singles Bar for May. Plenty of new sounds from all across the musical spectrum this month so take a seat and let us mix up something for you to enjoy... Kicking us into gear in suitably frenetic style this month are Los Pepes  with their new single Want You Back (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑). This does exactly what you'd want a Los Pepes song to do essentially - whiplash riff, scowled vocals, a bit of unexpected harmonica honking and it gets in, says what it has to say and gets out again before the two minute mark. B-sides Never Get It Right  and  Tell Me  are similarly high quality too and well worth a listen in their own right.  Bandcamp link here . Making a welcome comeback this month are Desperate Journalist  with Fault (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑), the lead-off single from their upcoming fourth album Maximum Sorrow . A bit more urgent than the band's usual output, the pounding drums, swirling bass and echoey guitar remind me more of Siouxsie ...

Welcome back to the Singles Bar as we look through this month's releases. A bit of a shorter than usual column this month with five singles and a mini-album to get through so let's get on with it, shall we?... Rich Ragany & The Digressions  are currently limbering up for their second album and on the evidence of  Heartbreakers Don't Try  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑), a tribute to Johnny Thunders with its lyrical references to You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory unless my ears deceive me, it should be well worth the wait. A supremely tuneful slice of Tom Petty style power-pop (two Heartbreakers for the price of one, you might say) with some driving piano courtesy of ex-Shush man and all round production wiz Andy Brook, this is good stuff. Bandcamp link here .  It's always good to see some Jesse Malin  in the review pile although the jerky blues of  The Way We Used To Roll  (🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑) isn't quite up to the standard of his previous few releases like Ameri'ka or...