Nite Songs

  Before Victoria are the brainchild of former Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing bassist and music writer Marc Burrows and with TMTWNBBFN currently on hiatus, the one time side project has clearly now moved up in his priorities a bit. I'd heard the group's previous EP Carry On Up The Chartists  a few years ago and, I'm gonna be brutally honest, was a little bit disappointed by it - it seemed to lack the oomph of The Men That... However, everyone deserves a second chance so I was intrigued to see where the group had gone since then. Moving Forward  actually gets off to a good start with Another History Song  almost sounding like a farewell note of sorts from Burrows to his old group with its overriding message of moving forward from the past and learning from our mistakes rather than repeating them again and again - there's a definite hint of social commentary on here as well...and this was before the frankly terrifying events of the last week or so in politics....

  Compiled by former Gunfire Dance and Waldos guitarist and current Men That Will Be Blamed For Nothing drummer Jez Miller, Hatful of Holloway  is a compilation of covers to raise funds for renowned rockers' drinking joint the Lamb pub in Holloway. With an impressive cast list, for a worthwhile cause, it's certainly something bearing investigation with a good mix of straight up fired up rock and some more out there moments as well. Among the highlights are Flesh Tetris turning in an agreeably crunchy version of Rammstein's Du Hast and Paul-Ronney Angel and Tomirae Brown's seasick Oh Pandemic  which is as darkly ominous as you'd expect. Gunfire Dance's fired up cover of the Kinks' Till The End Of The Day  reminds you what a sadly under-rated band they were and The Men That Will Not Be Blamed... also do a quality raid on Ray Davies' back catalogue with their cover of Victoria  (a live favourite from their gigs). Elsewhere, Miller turns in a competent cover...