Nite Songs

  It’s fair to say that the Erotics have had something of a career renaissance of late and on the evidence of Rot In The Shade , it's still rolling on quite nicely. A good mix of some tracks from the various EP's the band has put out over the last couple of years and some new numbers, this is every bit as much of a scuzzy scummy riff-fest as you'd expect right from the moment Knockin' On Death's Door  kicks in sounding like something that wouldn't have been out of place on the first W.A.S.P. album. The swaggering finger-clicking Helltown Boogie  keeps the momentum rolling on nicely before the scuzzy low-slung You Got Me Shakin'  which even has some incongruous harmonica on it! The attempt at a ballad on Diamonds  doesn't quite work unfortunately and the Spanish sung Dia De Los Muertos  is an odd but enjyoable curio before the Panama  style riffage of Too Hot To Stop  gets things back on track (definitely a hint of Cocked And Loaded  era L.A. ...

  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  ...

  Welcome to the traditional Nite Songs end of year rundown. As we did last year, we're gonna kick off today with our Top 10 EP's and mini-albums before kicking off the Top 50 countdown in earnest tomorrow. As you'll know if you've been frequenting our Singles Bar over the last 12 months, 2021 has been nothing if not a varied year as evidenced from the sheer variety of stuff making up this list from sugar-sweet power-pop to ferocious punk. Read on for our picks and hopefully we might just help you plug a couple of gaps in your collection then tune back in tomorrow as we start the albums list. *** 10. THE SPANGLES - "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun" Sometimes covers EP's just work and this one from the Spangles was one of those where you could literally sense the band having fun as they were making it. Covers of Transvision Vamp, Kim Wilde, Joan Jett and the Bangles are all handled well with the melodies and hooks given a good old scuzzy glam-punk makeover to top ...

  As we mentioned in Part 1 of this thing earlier today, the sheer volume of new stuff this month has led to this month's Singles Bar being a three-parter and here's the third bit with no less than seven new EP's and mini-albums (think that might be a record for this thing!) for your delectation. *** BILLY IDOL - "The Roadside EP" We reviewed the lead off track from Billy's new EP, the downbeat Bitter Taste , last month in this column. However, any fears that this would be another album of mid-paced songs with few rock-outs as per his last album Kings And Queens of the Underground  are, I'm pleased to say, unfounded as the raw punky lead off track Rita Hayworth  kicks in sounding sleazier than a room full of crack-dealing pimps and thank feck for that. Elsewhere, U Don't Have To Kiss Me Like That  is a pulsating drum machine fired rocker that could have belonged on Billy's Whiplash Smile  album and Baby Put Your Clothes Back On  is a sinister slowi...

  So here we go - the inaugural Nite Songs Top 50 Albums of the Year. And what a bloody weird year it’s been... Twelve months ago I was genuinely convinced that I was done with music journalism for the foreseeable future. Pure Rawk, the webzine I wrote for at the time, had just gone into prolonged hibernation (soon to emerge though hopefully...) and I'd also just moved back to my native Bradford after a decade living in the south east. The plan was that I was going to get out and start living again, start going to gigs as a fan and enjoying them for what they were, finally get a new band of my own going seven years after the last one split up, learn to enjoy life as a music fan again really. And then Covid happened. Gigs stopped. In fact, social life as a whole pretty much stopped. Bang went the idea of starting a new band, of going to gigs, of pretty much doing anything really as I also lost my job as the company I worked for cut costs (thankfully my spell on the dole would only l...

  One of the most doggedly persistent sleaze rock bands out there, New York natives the Erotics have been plugging away on the scuzz circuit for over two decades now and Let's Kill Rock 'n' Roll  is a commendably rapid follow-up to last year's The Songs Remain Deranged  which was a solid if unspectacular effort. Recorded live without a safety net in front of an audience at Don Fury Studios in the big apple (recording sessions for the album were cancelled due to the Covid crisis leading to Mike Trash and co opting for the "fuck it, let's just do the show right here!" approach days before the lockdown kicked in). From the opening onslaught of the title track, it's pretty clear that the Erotics still sound like some sort of supremely scuzzy cross between WASP and the Descendents. Except that unlike Blackie Lawless, Trash is clearly still a man who knows his way round a decent riff and hook and a chantalong chorus and it makes for an unsurprising but no le...