Nite Songs

  40.     DIAMOND DOGS - "About The Hardest Nut To Crack" As always, the Diamond Dogs aren't pulling any surprises with us on their newest album but the truth is that Sulo and co are simply a band who are very good at what they do and on  About The Hardest Nut To Crack , they're on good form with the likes of  Got A Rock 'n' Roll Record ,  Down On The Debris Field  and  Gurus & Gangsters  being particular standouts. Another good effort by this most enjoyable band. *** 39.     THE SHED PROJECT - "Our Fear Is Their Power" A politically charged Stone Roses? The Charlatans after taking some songwriting lessons from Joe Strummer? I'm not entirely sure how you'd describe the Shed Project but what I would say is that they're a very unique and excellent band. Packing the hooks and melodies of the best bands of their ilk but adding a genuine socialist working class anger on the likes of  Ghost Town ,  The Crowdpleaser  and...

  Heard ya missed us, well we're back. We didn't run a Singles Bar in January due to a lack of stuff to review (kind of standard for that time of year tbh) but I'm pleased to report that we've now got enough stuff to open the bar up again so let's open the fridge and get stuck in... *** Always good to have something exciting to start off the Singles Bar for a new year and the prospect of a new offering from  the Damned  definitely falls into that category. The Invisible Man  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) is culled from Vanian, Sensible and co's new offering Darkadelic  and is a promising effort which just when you've got it pegged as a mid-tempo garage rocker suddenly goes into a full-on psychedelic freakout just to really throw you off. Looking forward to that new album chaps. *** I'm thoroughly ashamed to admit that I completely missed the memo about  Black Star Riders  having a new album out but rest assured we'll get a review up of it in the near future. In the m...

  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...

Welcome to July's instalment of the Singles Bar. Hand on heart, this one is more of a mini-bar with just half a dozen new offerings but there's some big hitters in here so quality not quantity. Think of it as a good hard shot of whatever your favourite spirit is. And speaking of a good hard shot, what better way to start off a Singles Bar than with a new single from The Wildhearts ? Remember These Days (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗) is a fine first salvo from Ginger and co's upcoming album 21st Century Love Songs  starting off sounding like a Stiff Little Fingers song with the riffs amped up but rest assured before its five minutes are out, it'll have taken you off in about three directions that you weren't expecting and reminded you exactly how much we've missed them over the last year or two since Renaissance Men . Roll on September 3rd. Speaking of big hitters making a return, it's good to see Danko Jones  back with a new single. Hand on heart, I thought Danko's last a...

  So here's part two of this month's Singles Bar featuring a few more singles and a trio of EP's as well, Plenty to get our teeth into so let's crack on pronto, eh? We last heard from Adam & The Hellcats  last year with the enjoyable  Welcome To The Madhouse  single. They have put out another one since in House of Straw  but honestly I wasn't that big a fan of it (sorry guys) hence why we didn't feature it on here. However, new effort  Bending The Knee  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑) is a big improvement sounding like some unholy collision between fellow Bristolians Vice Squad and the Sisters of Mercy at their most bombastic. A big stomping six-minute epic, this is a good taster for the upcoming Hellcats album due in April, Looking forward to it.  Bandcamp link here Split single time and this one is a bit of a mouthwaterer as Nottingham scumbags The Hip Priests  team up with the legendary Supersuckers . While the 'Suckers track Deceptive Expectations has a...

  In which Nottingham's premier filth wizards follow up their 2017 odds 'n' sods compilation Those Fuckin' Boys  with a collection of the random stuff they've put out since then away from their excellent Stand For Nothing  album from last year. The Priests have always been an incredibly productive band and the 17 tracks on Solid Gold Easy Option  show exactly why they've got such a rabid following. Tunes like Scene Is A Crime  and Shithead Emperor  see them ferociously taking aim at the "play it safe" mediocrity that comprises a depressing amount of modern music while covers of Motorhead's The Hammer  and the Stooges' Loose  show off their influences well as does the short sharp shock brutality of All My Rowdy Friends , a tribute to their heroes who are no longer with us. They're far from a one trick pony though and the almost Mott the Hoople style swagger of She's A Queen  shows they can switch the pace up as well especially when you c...

  Well, here we go, part 2 of this month's Singles Bar as we finish rounding up all the good stuff that's landed in my inbox over the last few months while I was in reviewing hibernation. Hopefully everyone will find at least something they like in here! Cheers again and hopefully we'll see you with the next instalment either next month or in November depending on how much stuff lands in my inbox between now and then! Starting off with a band who I'm friends with from my days living on the Herts/Essex borders, Touch of Blue  reformed a couple of years ago and "Here It Goes"  (🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑), their new single, is a good slice of low-slung and loose Stonesy rock with a slight nod to the bar-room stomp of the Quireboys as well. If you're looking for something nice and simple to sink a pint to this coming Friday night then you could do a lot worse than this - downloadable from their Bandcamp page (along with a couple of other recent re-releases) if you want to i...