Nite Songs

Okay, time for the big hitters - we did the first half of our Top 100 albums yesterday and now it's ten a day from now until the New Year. Settle down and let's see how the first part of our Top 50 unfolds, shall we?... *** 50. THE KUT - "Grit" Grit  saw the Kut deliver an album more than worthy of their commercial step up in the world, ironing out their old inconsistencies to deliver a well-rounded effort packing plenty of variety and some great tunes and hooks to boot from the driving riff of Not Here For Love  to the shameless power ballad of Satellite . The sound of a band very much arriving. *** 49. CINDY LAWSON - "New Tricks" Something of a local legend in her home state of Minnesota thanks to her '80s band the Clams, New Tricks  is an album that deserves to take Cindy Lawson to a wider audience. Mixing spiky pop-punk, Runaways style gang chants and even the odd bit of grunge and shoegazing for good measure, this is an album with its fingers in man...

  The Kut are one of those bands who suddenly seem to have made a pretty huge leap up commercially in the last year or two. Having come up through the London rock bar scene alongside the likes of Healthy Junkies and Yur Mum about half a decade or so ago, they put out a solid debut album in the form of 2018's Valley Of Thorns  but with the group moving up in the world, the pressure's on a bit here for the music to reflect their added commercial presence (tube ads an' all). Opening track Animo  is a solid effort with its chugging riff and Mahi's vocals reminding me a bit of Syteria for some reason which isn't a bad thing. The vocoder on the chorus is a bit hard on the ears though! Second track Burn Your Bridges  is a bit better with its laid back slacker menace coming across like L7 in one of their poppier moments before building up to a screamalong chorus. Grit  keeps up an impressively varied output throughout from the driving riff of Not Here For Love  to ...

  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 ...

A cold night on the roof of the Nite Songs Singles Bar. After a heavy shift sorting out two lots of singles and a consignment of EP's and mini-albums, your friendly reviewer was about to close the bar up for the night when he was distracted by the sound of sleigh bells on the roof. Climbing up through the skylight, he sees... ANDY: Santa? SANTA: Ho ho ho. That's right. A: Hold on a sec, what are you doing here? I've just finished my reviews for the month and was about to clock out... S: Have you forgotten what time of year it is, yer daft bugger? A: Oh...yeah. That. S: And you know what that means, right? A; Ah. Yes. S: Indeed. :throws a group of Christmas singles at your friendly reviewer: You'd better get these listened to then hadn't yer? A: You mean PART FOUR of this month's Singles Bar? Oh for... (interrupted by the sound of the sleigh taking off and heading back towards the North Pole)  Starting off with that staple of festive listening, the big Christmas ...