Album of the Year Pt 14 (THE TOP 5!)

5. ROLE MODELS - "Forest Lawn"

Another band who absolutely breezed the whole sophomore album thing following up 2015's storming debut "The Go To Guy". "Forest Lawn" was a worthy follow-up with nods to everyone from the full-on sonic chaos of the Stooges to the more laidback musings of Paul Westerberg and with killer tunes and riffs throughout. You can read the full review here and check out the video for "(I Broke My Back) Disappointing You" below.

4. CHEAP TRICK - "Bang, Zoom, Crazy...Hello?"

It'd be easy for a band who've been in the game as long as Cheap Trick to simply rest on their laurels and phone albums in at this point but "Bang, Zoom, Crazy,,,Hello?" was anything but a by-numbers effort with storming choruses, some great guitar work from Rick Nielsen and top drawer tunes all round. Basically, it's everything you'd want a Cheap Trick album to be and you can't say fairer than that. Full review here.

3. THE DOWLING POOLE - "One Hyde Park"

While their debut album had a bit of promise but occasionally came across as a bit too off the wall to really connect, "One Hyde Park" really saw the Dowling Poole spreading their wings. Mixing the political anger and sly sense of humour of their debut with added top drawer tunes and a real sense that you never quite know what's coming next culminating in the "Freddie Mercury jamming with Brian Wilson" epic title track, this was a triumph. Full review here and you can check out the video for "Rebecca Receiving" below.

2. HEY! HELLO! - "Hey! Hello! Too!"

Definitely the album which had the most difficult genesis of the year - after switching singers in 2015 with Hollis from the Love Zombies replacing Victoria Liedtke, Hey! Hello! had this album up and ready to go in February only for Hollis to abruptly quit the band to move to LA leaving the album pulled and the band back at square one again. However, as we all know, Ginger is a bit of an expert at making lemonade out of lemons and he quickly set about re-recording the album with a group of new vocalists and a few new tracks thrown in as well. And as always, the crafty bugger ensured it was an absolute triumph - 11 awesome songs and not a dud throughout. The group now have a full-time new singer in Cat and you can see a live version of their take on the old Sailor pop classic "A Glass Of Champagne" below.

1. THE URBAN VOODOO MACHINE - "Hellbound Hymns"

They've come very close with their last couple of efforts but with their fourth album, the Urban Voodoo Machine are deserved winners of my "Album of the Year" award for 2016. Building on everything that they've managed to put together over the previous three (not to mention the background of the group losing both Nick Marsh and Robb Skipper over the last couple of years). Tons of variety, great tunes throughout and pretty much every musical style you can think of chucked in the pot, this is a great reminder why in an era where "popular" music seems to get more anodyne and interchangable every year that we need groups like the UVM so badly. You can read my review of the album here and see the video for the group's tribute to Marsh and Skipper "Fallen Brothers" below.

Well there we go folks, odyssey at an end. Hope you've all enjoyed reading this and hopefully I'll be updating this blog a bit more regularly in 2017. In the meantime, hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoy New Year tonight!

Albums of the Year Pt 13 (The Top 10)

10. MAID OF ACE - "Maid In England"

"Maid In England" does what every good sophomore album should in that it takes all the promising bits from Maid of Ace's debut album a couple of years back, tightens up the loose fittings, adds a dose of killer tunes and riffs and lets it explode with H-bomb style power. A great effort from these Hastings punkettes - give the title track a listen below.

9. LAST GREAT DREAMERS - "Transmissions From Oblivion"

Some of you might remember the rather excellent "Oh Yes We Can Love" glam rock box set a few years back which looked at the full story of glam from its roots in 1940s music hall right up to modern day acts influenced by it. With "Transmissions From Oblivion", what Last Great Dreamers have done is essentially taken all the best bits from that and wrapped 'em up into an absolutely killer 40 minutes of swaggering tunefulness which Bolan would be proud to call his own. Full review here and you can check out the excellent video for the "Glitterball Apocalypse" single below.

8. NEW MODEL ARMY - "Winter"

It says a lot about what a career renaissance New Model Army have had in recent years that not only did they put out one of their strongest offerings for years with 2013's "Between Dog And Wolf" but they then went and actually surpassed it with "Winter". At once a reminder of everything that made them such a great band back in the day but with plenty of unexpected twists and turns on it, this is up there with their best stuff and comes strongly recommended. Full review here and you can see the video for "Devil" below.

7. CJ WILDHEART - "Robot"

A more than worthy follow up to 2014's "Mable", "Robot" saw CJ put together another great collection of earworms with plenty of variety, energy and choruses which stubbornly refused to leave your head once they'd got in there. You can read the full review here and check out the video for "FUBAR" below.

6. RYAN HAMILTON & THE TRAITORS - "The Devil's In The Detail"

A late entry on to this list but it definitely deserves to go in. Following up the excellent "Hell Of A Day" album from last year was never gonna be easy but credit to Ryan, he made it look as simple as falling off a log. "The Devil's In The Detail" contained some of the catchiest songs of the year mixed with some lovely haunting ballads and an overriding message of rising above the haters and doing what you want to do. Full review here and you can watch the video for "We Never Should Have Moved To LA" below.

Albums of the Year Pt 12 (15-11)

15. SUPERSUCKERS - "Holdin' The Bag"

Following frontman Eddie Spaghetti's brush with throat cancer in 2015, the Suckers returned in the early days of 2016 with a semi-unplugged album, kind of a follow-up of sorts to 1997's "Must've Been High". And thankfully with the tunes, hooks, attitude and swagger well and truly intact - this was a worthy follow-up to 2014's "Get The Hell" and proof that this band still have plenty of fire left. Full review here.

14. TONY WRIGHT - "Walnut Dash"

Following on from 2015's ultra-bleak and stripped down "Thoughts 'n' All", "Walnut Dash" saw Tony in a more positive frame of mind with "Music Is The Food Of Love" and "One Size Fits All" being two of the best songs of his post-Terrorvision career so far. On the flip side, the melancholy "Life's Too Short" and the sinister "Delete Repeat" provided a nice counterweight to the more poppy moments and ensured this was a good well-rounded album. Full review here.

13. SPIKE & TYLA'S HOT KNIVES - "The Sinister Indecisions of Frankie Gray and Jimmy Pallas"

After 20 years, the respective Quireboys and Dogs D'Amour frontmen finally got together to produce a follow-up to the excellent "Flagrantly Yours" and it was well worth the wait. Dare I say it, possibly even better than the actual Quireboys album that was released around the same time? Certainly the mix of Spike's more upbeat bar-room rave-ups like "Curse of the Day Time Drinker" mixes very well with Tyla's more downbeat nocturnal laments like "Enchanted" and "Anne Boleyn" and makes this a great listen from end to end. Full review here.

12. SONIC BOOM SIX - "The F Bomb"

SB6 have been at this game for quite a long time now and with "The F Bomb", they delivered one of their strongest albums to date. Fired up with plenty of political anger but with an over-riding positive message about rising above hate and staying true to yourself, this was SB6 at their best. Full review here and you can watch the video for "From The Fire To The Frying Pan" below.

11. TROPICAL CONTACT - "XS"

This album very nearly didn't get made at all - back in 2014, Tropical Contact announced that they were going on indefinite hiatus after a clutch of well-received EP's and it looked as though the world had lost yet another promising band before they filled their potential. Clearly they missed it as well though because 2015 saw them reform with a Pledge campaign for their debut album which they smashed quite easily. And it was worth the wait - full throttle Britrock with a wicked sense of humour lurking underneath - give the video for "Hero Brigade" a watch below.

Albums of the Year Pt 11 (20-16)

20. THE VIRGINMARYS - "Divides"

Definitely one of the big surprises of 2016, while the Virginmarys' debut "King of Conflict" was a decent effort, their sophomore effort "Divides" really saw them come into their own with a hefty slice of tuneful angst-rock recalling Therapy? at their prime - give the video for "Motherless Land" a spin below to see how far this group have come.

19. SPUNK VOLCANO & THE ERUPTIONS - "Shit Generation"

Brilliantly foul-mouthed glam-punk from Dirt Box Disco's guitarist and his other band which sounds like the Buzzcocks on a Special Brew bender. Sample lyric - "You're living out your life on Facebook Chat/Where she's a slag an' 'e's a twat!". Give the likes of "DNA Failure", "X-Factor", "Send The Boys Round" and "XR3" a listen for some of the most enjoyably foul-mouthed music you'll hear all year. Full review here.

18. JOANOVARC - "Ride Of Your Life"

Over a decade in the making, "Ride Of Your Life" saw Joanovarc put all of their experience to use to create a knockout debut album which saw rhem putting together some of the best songs from their early EP's along with some great new material to create a killer collection of songs. Full review is here and you can check out the video to "Live Rock 'n' Roll" below.

17. IMPERIAL STATE ELECTRIC - "All Through The Night"

A worthy follow-up to last year's excellent "Honk Machine", "All Through The Night" was an excellent varied album from Nicke Andersson and his troops ranging from flashy Hendrix style rock-outs through stomping Motown style ballads to countrified steel guitar numbers. Great stuff - you can read the full review here and check out the video to the title track below.

16. THE WITCHDOKTORS - "Voodoo Eye"

Stomping rock 'n' roll from the one-time 12 Bar regulars, "Voodoo Eye" was a great album full of tight as you like rock 'n' roll which recalls those now sadly-no-more nights out so many of us used to enjoy on Denmark Street in Soho before the property developers got their grubby mitts on it and ruined the place. Full review here.

Albums of the Year Pt 10 (25-21)

25. THE NOVEMBER FIVE - "Throwing Rocks Against The Sun"

While their debut "If You're Satisfied, You Are Dead" was a furious slice of political alt-rock with an '80s goth bent, "Throwing Rocks Against The Sun", the November Five's second album, was a full on panic attack set to music, a real 21st century breakdown album if you will. One of the darkest albums of 2016 and all the better for it - full review here.

24. THE WONDER STUFF - "30 Goes Around The Sun"

No less than the Wonder Stuff's eighth album and another solid addition to their legacy following on from 2014's excellent "Oh No...It's The Wonder Stuff". More of a mellow offering than their efforts of old but still with some fine tunes on there - give the title track and "Kids From The Green" a listen for proof. Full review here and you can watch the video for "For The Broken Hearted" below.

23. IGGY POP - "Post Pop Depression"

Iggy's output has been a bit patchy in recent years and the news that he was teaming up with Josh Homme (a man who hasn't put his name to a decent album since Queens of the Stone Age's "Songs For The Deaf" all those years ago) for his final effort didn't exactly inspire my confidence it has to be said. However, "Post Pop Depression" was a more than respectable sign-off from the Ig, harking back to the tightwire new wave sounds of 1979's "New Values". It wasn't completely flawless but the likes of "Break Into Your Heart", "Gardenia", "In The Lobby" and the foul-mouthed "f**k you" sign off of "Paraguay" were fine efforts indeed.

22. THE 69 EYES - "Universal Monsters"

Another icy slice of goth rock cool from the Helsinki Vampires and a worthy addition to their back catalogue. It combines their goth elements and their rock tendencies to good effect to make a good varied consistent album. You can read my review of it from Pure Rawk here and check out the video for lead-off single "Jet Fighter Plane" below.

21. THE HILLBILLY MOON EXPLOSION - "With Monsters And Gods"

After a disappointing previous effort (2014's "Damn Right Honey!"), the HMX put in an impressive return to form on "With Monsters And Gods", a punchy mix of country and psychobilly which was a good reminder of everything that brought them to our attention in the first place. Give the video for their version of "Jackson" a watch below and see for yourself.

Albums of the Year Pt 9 (30-26)

30. BOB MOULD - "Patch The Sky"

He may have been in the game for over three decades now but "Patch The Sky" showed that Bob Mould still knows his way around a thoughtful slice of tuneful angst with songs like "Voices In My Head", "Pray For Rain" and "You Say You" being cut from the same cloth that informed his best work with Husker Du and Sugar. Still very much a contender all these years on as the video for "Hold On" below demonstrates.

29. CHRIS T-T - "9 Green Songs"

In the year which gave us the most muddled Brexit imaginable, not to mention Donald Trump, "9 Green Songs" was an album for these times - full of political anger and desperately trying to make some sense of a world which frequently didn't compute. While the likes of "Cutting A Longbow" and "Border Crossing" were angry howls of protest at the injustice of the world, the savage "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" showed that Chris was just as angry at the apathy of his own political side as the cruelty of the other. Full review here.

28. THE EMPTY PAGE - "Unfolding"

The return of the artists formerly known as Obsessive Compulsive, "Unfolding" saw the Empty Page taking a more grungy approach to their work to good effect but keeping the fierce anger and individualism of their previous band intact on tracks like "Deeply Unlovable" and "Turbulence". Give the video for "Wardrobe Malfunction" a watch below and see for yourself.

27. TENSHEDS - "The Dandy Punk Prince"

Third album from Tensheds and it was an impressively varied effort, verging from Nick Cave style seasick blues through Springsteen style confessionals to fired up sleazy blues rock and pulling everything they turned to off with aplomb. If you've not yet discovered this band then you really should make an effort to put that to rights - in the meantime, full review here.

26. SURGICAL METH MACHINE - "Surgical Meth Machine"

Okay so essentially it's a Ministry album in all but name. But the difference is that Ministry haven't sounded this good for almost a decade. Brutal industrial rock with a wickedly sharp sense of humour lurking underneath it (just give "Rich People Problems", "I'm Sensitive" and "Unlistenable" a listen for proof). Full review here.

Albums of the Year Pt 8 (35-31)

35. THE INTERNATIONAL SWINGERS - "The International Swingers"

So imagine if Billy Idol's last album hadn't been a bit over-heavy on the ballads and had rocked out a bit more. That's the International Swingers' debut in a nutshell. Featuring various off-duty and one-time members of Blondie, the Sex Pistols and Generation X, this was a supergroup who well and truly delivered on their potential with a collection of full-throttle and rock 'n' roll tunes. Full review here and you can check out the video for single "Gun Control" below.

34. MATTY JAMES - "The Road To No Town"

Spit 'n' sawdust acoustic-led rock 'n' roll from Northern Ireland, Matty James' second album comes on like the distant cousin of Ricky Warwick's solo output with the defiance of songs like "Sticks 'n' Stones" (video below) meshing well with more downbeat country laments like "Heavy Heart". He's definitely set out his stall as a good songwriter with this one - full review here.

33. HELEN LOVE - "Classic Hits"

Scarily now in their third decade as a band, this was a most enjoyable comeback effort from the one-time lo-fi clown princesses of the Britpop era. Still packed full of the group's bubbly enthusiasm and hooks that resolutely refuse to let go of your brain once they're in there and featuring nods to everyone from the Ramones to Van Halen via Sheila E, "Classic Hits" was great fun from start to finish. Full review here.

32. AGAINST ME! - "Shape Shift With Me"

"Shape Shift With Me"'s predecessor "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" was one of the darkest albums of 2014, documenting Laura Jane Grace's gender transition with no punches pulled. Compared to that, "Shape Shift With Me" does at least seem to be focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel with some tracks that are a bit more upbeat on it but it's still a brutally raw effort for the most part and that's it's main appeal. Review wot I did for Pure Rawk here.

31. THE ZIPHEADS - "Z2: Rampage!"

Second album from this St Albans based psychobilly crew and it was a good follow-up to their 2013 debut "Prehistoric Beat". Full-on pedal to the metal greaser rock with the odd bit of surf-rock, cowpunk and ska which takes the best bits of their debut and ramps up the energy to breakneck levels. Good stuff - you can read the full review here.

Albums of the Year Pt 7 (40-36)

40. THE SPITFIRES - "A Thousand Times"

"A Thousand Times" saw Watford's premier mod revival proponents building nicely on the promise shown by their debut, 2015's "Response". Reminiscent of the Jam in their later years (think "The Gift" or "Sound Affects"), it shows them adding a few new tricks to their repertoire but keeping the energy and enthusiasm that made their debut stand out. Full review here and you can see the video for "On My Mind" below.

39. UK SUBS - "Ziezo"

After a bit of a disappointing quality dip with 2015's "Yellow Leader", 2016 saw the Subs finally complete their A-Z album journey in style with "Ziezo" being a neat summation of everything that's made them such a good band down the years veering from full-throttle punk to the odd ska or metal curveball thrown in to keep things interesting. Full review here.

38. LOLA COLT - "Twist Through The Fire"

Mesmerising goth rock with a psychedelic twist from these London hopefuls, "Twist Through The Fire" was a good opening statement from them with the hypnotic likes of "Gold", "Eagle" and the epic title track showing a hell of a lot of promise. Keep these standards up and they could be a band to seriously watch out for. Check out the video for "Gold" below.

37. THE DIRTY STRANGERS - "Crime And A Woman"

The Dirty Strangers are one of those bands who these days seem to pop up every four or five years to remind everybody that they're still about. "Crime And A Woman" was the follow-up to 2010's "From West 12 to Wittering" and was an equally enjoyable knockabout slice of Stonesy swagger meets Sham 69 style street punk with a side dose of Steve Marriott style nudge and a wink cheekiness. You can read my full review of it here.

36. RUTS DC - "Music Must Destroy"

Hand on heart, my expectations weren't too high for this - since reforming, Ruts DC have been mostly concentrating on the reggae/dub side of their output. However, "Music Must Destroy" was a very impressive comeback effort mixing the reggae and punk sides of their output to blistering effect. Definitely one of the most impressive resurrections of this year - full review here and you can check out the video for "Psychic Attack" below.

Albums of the Year Pt 6 (45-41)

45. THE TRAILER TRASH ORCHESTRA - "Grave Tales"

Blasting out of St Albans like the Urban Voodoo Machine's long-lost redneck cousins, the TTO's second album was a moonshine-sodden collection of skid row country laments about drink and death. Some of the darkest music of this genre you're likely to hear this year and all the better for it. Full review here.

44. DAVID BOWIE - "Blackstar"

I know that some will see "Blackstar" being this far down the list as sacrilege but bear with me here. Bowie has made his name over the years as someone who's not afraid to turn his hand to any sort of music you care to mention and while he doesn't always get it right, that sheer guts to take risks is a big part of the reason why he's so fondly remembered and so sadly missed. "Blackstar", while not a bad effort, is unfortunately not an album I'd put up there with his best stuff and it definitely gets a bit rambling and impenetrable in places such as on "Sue" or "Girl Loves Me". However, the epic title track, the hypnotic "Lazarus" and the closing "I Can't Give Everything Away" were fine efforts indeed and more than a good enough reason to give this one a listen. Video for the title track below.

43. PROPHETS OF ADDICTION - "Reunite The Sinners"

Strange things are afoot down on Sunset Strip and it sounds oddly like evolution. Prophets of Addiction may look like yer stereotypical second division LA sleaze band with the big hair, glam rags and tats plus members previously doing time with LA Guns and Pretty Boy Floyd but beneath the surface, "Reunite The Sinners" is actually an impressively varied album ranging from sneering punked-up riff-fests to the odd bit of Lords of the New Church style swooping goth melodrama. You can read a bit more about it here.

42. THE QUIREBOYS - "Twisted Love"

If I'm honest, this did feel like a bit of a step down quality wise from the last few Quireboys albums like "Homewreckers and Heartbreakers", "Beautiful Curse" and "St Cecilia And The Gypsy Soul" just because it felt a bit one-paced compared to its predecessors. But it's still a solid effort from Spike and the lads with the likes of "Torn And Frayed" and a re-recorded "Gracie B" are fine tunes in their own right making it well worth a listen. Full review here and you can watch the title track's video below.

41. BRIJITTE WEST & THE DESPERATE HOPEFULS - "From NY With Love"

A worthy follow-up to 2010's self-titled debut, "From NY With Love" saw Brijitte (backed up the excellent Fiascos) deliver an enjoyable 40 minutes of Big Apple style glam-punk with "Typical Drunken Loser", "Permanent Ink" and "We Didn't Make It" all being stand out songs. Definitely a good album to put a bit of sunshine into your life with.

Albums of the Year pt 5 (50-46)

50. DRAMA CLUB REJECTS - "Drama Club Rejects"

Formed by the ex-Whatever duo of Nick Parsons (ex-Almighty/Supercharger) and Stidi (ex-Wildhearts/Jellys), the Drama Club Rejects' album was a good solid 40 minute slice of Britrock with plenty of meaty riffs and good tunes to satisfy. Hopefully the first of many from this group. Review here.

49. KING HARVEST & THE WEIGHT - "Maps"

Hailing from Halifax, King Harvest & The Weight's debut album was a supremely tuneful slice of melodic rock reminiscent of groups like the Babys with a spot of Thin Lizzy style tightwire guitar lines thrown in. A strong first effort and hopefully it'll give them a good base to build on for album number two. Review here.

48. BLACK BOMBERS - "Black Bombers"

Hailing from Birmingham and featuring former Gunfire Dance bassist Darren Birch, the Black Bombers' debut album was a vicious scuzzed-up beast of a record owing sly nods to everybody from the Dead Boys to the Flamin' Groovies. And the Stooges obviously. If pure raw garage rock is your thing then there's not many new bands do it better than this lot. Review here.

47. THE CAVEMEN - "The Cavemen"

These New Zealand punks actually managed to put two albums out this year but I'm gonna plump for their debut rather than the still-pretty-good follow-up "Born To Hate". 13 tracks, 19 minutes, zero f**ks given for causing offence to people. If you like your punk loud, snotty and foul-mouthed then this definitely takes some beating.

46. BAR STOOL PREACHERS - "Blatant Propaganda"

There's been quite a few ska-punk bands pushing themselves over the parapet into the big leagues in the last couple of years (some of whom may be elsewhere on this list) but the Bar Stool Preachers are definitely one of the best of the bunch, barrelling out of Brighton with a pinpoint working class fury that recalls the Specials in places. Definitely one of the most assured debuts of the year - you can read a bit more about it here.

Albums of the Year Pt 4 (55-51)

55. THE BEAT - "Bounce"

That's the UK Beat (Ranking Roger's version as opposed to Dave Wakeling's US version) for those wondering. Taking their classic ska sound and giving it a bit of a 21st century makeover, "Bounce" was a good 35 minutes of upbeat music with the Beat's trademark thoughtful lyrics lurking beneath the surface as demonstrated well by the video for the single "Walking On The Wrong Side" below.

54. SUEDE - "Night Thoughts"

A big brooding epic of an album which harked back to "Dog Man Star" in its scope (if not quite in the quality of the tunes therein but it wasn't far off), "Night Thoughts" was further proof that Suede in 2016 still have plenty to say with the sinister dynamics of the songs and Brett Anderson's soaring vocals combining to make it a very beguiling listen. The video for "No Tomorrow" is below if you want to judge for yourself.

53. THE MISSION - "Another Fall From Grace"

After the curveball which was "The Brightest Light" (an album which I really liked and was in my Top 20 albums of 2014), "Another Fall From Grace" saw the Mission return to their more trademark goth sound and I have to admit to being a bit disappointed the first time I heard it - it kind of felt like a bit of a step backwards after "The Brightest Light" (and it's predecessor "God Is A Bullet")'s more 'outside the box' approach. I'll admit though, it's a grower and tunes like "Met-Amor-Phosis" (vid below) and "Blood On The Road" will definitely creep into your conscience with repeated listening.

52. THE DESCENDENTS - "Hypercaffinum Spazzinate"

Packing 21 songs into just 42 minutes, it's obvious that age isn't making the Descendents any less urgent and for that we should be grateful. "Hypercaffinum Spazzinate" was a worthy addition to the veteran US punks' repertoire with the likes of "Victim of Me", "Beyond The Music" and "Comeback Kid" showing the fierceness that informed their best work is still very much intact.

51. KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS - "La Arana Es La Vida"

A massively varied album from the former Cramps and Gun Club guitarist taking in everything from rockabilly through seasick swamp-rock to punk and psychedelia. And all with an impressive dose of energy and tunes. You can read Muggins' review of it 'ere.

Albums of the Year Part 3 (60-56)

60. THE DEAD DAISIES - "Make Some Noise"

About as obvious a rock album as you'll hear all year but no worse for it, the Dead Daisies' third effort was another credible bunch of big hands in the air rock anthems with sly nods to everyone from Queen to the Cult. Don't go expecting the unexpected but if it's good simple old skool rock that you're after then this should satisfy nicely. Review here.

59. ELECTRIC SIX - "Fresh Blood For Tired Vampyres"

Yup, another year, another Electric Six album (their twelfth in all no less) and still no sign of them getting any more sensible with age. While "Fresh Blood..." wasn't quite up to the standard of recent efforts "Mustang" and "Bitch, Don't Let Me Die!", it was still a good effort with the likes of "Mood Is Improving" and "Lee Did This To Me" being as wonderfully unhinged as ever.

58. THE MUTANTS - "Your Desert My Mind"

When the Mutants (headed up by former Adam & Ants bassist Chris Constantinou and former Damned drummer Rat Scabies) put their debut album out in 2014, it was a straight-up punk/ska effort featuring Jake Burns, Neville Staple, Charlie Harper and countless others. They then followed that up last year with a J-Rock album recorded in Tokyo. Next stop? Well, a desert rock album recorded in the Mojave obviously. Featuring various reprobates from the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, the Dandy Warhols and Masters of Reality, "Your Desert My Mind" was a good solid effort and proved that the Mutants are proving a very adept band whatever style of music they turn their hand to. Review here.

57. THE ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVELL - "Keep It Greasy!"

Similar to the first two ASCS albums, "Keep It Greasy!" is a big woozy juddering fuzzed-up beast of a stoner rock album. Heavier than a concrete brontosaurus, it's also great fun to listen to as the scuzzed-up glam rock of "U Got Wot I Need" testifies. Danko Jones approved and really, who are we to question that? Review here.

56. D GENERATION - "Nothing Is Anywhere"

When it was announced that Jesse Malin and Richard Bacchus would be reforming their seminal early '90s glam-punk outfit a couple of years ago, there was some worry over whether their new work could reach the heights of their classic early albums. However, as songs like "Apocalypse Kids" (vid below) and "Piece Of The Action" demonstrated, this is still very much a band packing a punch two decades on.

Albums of the Year (Pt 2 - 65-61)

65. BORDELLO ROSE - "Bordello Rose"

A proper "everything but the kitchen sink" album and credit for Bordello Rose for making their debut album work as well as they did. Sounding like Iron Maiden one minute then Nightwish the next and the Doors the one after that, you certainly couldn't accuse this lot of not being varied. Certainly a group with a hell of a lot of potential and it'll be interesting to see where they go next. Full review from Pure Rawk by yours truly here.

64. MIDWAY STILL - "Go Team No Hope"

Early '90s indie veterans Midway Still are continuing to plough away in 2015 and "Go Team No Hope" might just be their most consistent album to date with songs like "Hey Summer" being a good reminder of why the early '90s indie scene (go on then, "fraggle" if you must) was such a criminally underappreciated genre. Review here.

63. THE EXHAUSTS - "Leave The Suburbs"

One part South London, one part Glasgow, the Exhausts' debut album is exactly the sort of closing time pub punch-up punk that you'd expect but with a righteous fury railing against smalltown life reminiscent of the Ming City Rockers. And rest assured that with "Move To South Norwood And Always Leave" and "Journey To The Call Centre Of The Earth" they at least came up with two of the best song titles of 2016. Review here.

62. BRUCE FOXTON - "Smash The Clock"

Second solo album from the former Jam and Stiff Little Fingers bass player and it was a good continuation from 2012's "Back In The Room". With Foxton's From The Jam bandmate Russell Hastings providing good vocal ammunition, the likes of the title track and "Sunday Morning" fizzle with an impressive energy. Definitely worth a look.

61. GIUDA - "Speaks Evil"

Maybe not quite as good as their first two albums but this third effort from the Italian bootboy glam revivalists did at least show that their sound was progressing nicely with a hitherto untapped AC/DC ("Mama Got The Blues") and ZZ Top ("Working Class Man") influence coming to the fore alongside the more expected Slade and Sweet influences. Review here and you can check out the video for "Roll The Balls" below.

Albums of the Year (Part 1)

As far as reviewing goes, this year has been absolutely mental, not to put too fine a point on it. I'm not sure why but I seem to have been doing tons of it for Pure Rawk, possibly due to my inability to say no when something decent looking lands in my inbox. So deciding this year's best of the best was gonna be tough. In the end, the original list of 20 became 30, then 40, then 50 and even that was a struggle. After a lot of deliberation I eventually decided, what the hell, I'll chuck a list together of everything decent (ie that got 3.5/5 or above when I reviewed it) and just include everything. The final list came to 70 albums so I'm gonna post five a day from now until New Year's Eve. Hope you find something you like in there. :)

But first, something a bit less edifying

GOLDEN TURKEY AWARD - WORST ALBUM OF 2016

Last year I did a list of a few bands who'd put disappointing efforts out and should really know better but this time there was one contender which stunk way worse than the rest, this being Steven Tyler and his truly abysmal pop-country album "We're All Somebody From Somewhere". Let's be honest, you can pretty much count the number of good songs Aerosmith have done since 1982 (ie since John Kalodner sunk his claws into them and turned their music into unmitigated AOR dross) on one hand but even by these standards, "We're All Somebody..." was dire, veering between dull acoustic ballads and, even worse, cringe-inducing attempts to sound "modern" (Hilariously bad Kid Rock style rap track? Check. Dismal country-pop track that was so bad it was sub-Taylor Swift? Check. 69-year-old man singing about how he's gonna "bang bang you like the 4th July"? Check.) I'd really rather not dwell on this abortion of an album for any longer than I have to but if you really must know more, you can read my review of it on Pure Rawk here.

Right, now we've got that out of the way let's get on to the decent stuff.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2016

70. SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS - "Vicious"

Forty years on from being the great "almost weres" of the early days of punk, it was good to see Slaughter & The Dogs back with a decent new offering. Even if it was very much a case of a band staying firmly within their comfort zone, songs like "Hollywood Whores", "Ultimatum" and "You Got Class" at least packed enough of a gut punch to make "Vicious" well worth a listen.

69. MOTHER FEATHER - "Mother Feather"

So imagine what might happen if Garbage or Curve had been fronted up by Alison Goldfrapp and amped up their guitar riffs a bit. That's Mother Feather in a nutshell pretty much. Signed to Metal Blade, their debut showed quite a bit of promise even if there's a tendency to go into Kaiser Chiefs/Franz Ferdinand raised eyebrow indie on a few tracks which they really need to nip in the bud. Give the stomping likes of "Natural Disaster" and "Egyptology" a spin for proof of how good this band are when they're on their game. Review here.

68. THE CULT - "Hidden City"

Here's the thing about the Cult - for better or worse they will always be playing and singing over the echoes of "Love" and "Electric", two albums which you're going to struggle to ever top. But that's not to say that "Hidden City" is a failure - like "Choice of Weapon" and "Born Into This" before it, it's a good solid 21st century Cult album as long as you're not expecting anything as awesome as they did in their glory days. Certainly the likes of "Dark Energy" are as good as anything the group's done in the last 10-15 years even if there's a few tracks later on that ramble a bit. You can read the review I did of it for Pure Rawk here.

67. LOVE ZOMBIES - "Passionfruit"

The release of the Love Zombies' debut album was overshadowed somewhat by Hollis and Davey's sudden upping of sticks to California from London to put a whole new band together under the name (not to mention Hollis' abrupt departure from Hey Hello). Which is a shame because "Passionfruit" wasn't a bad effort at all marking a significant step up quality-wise from the band's early EP's even if it didn't quite manage to keep up the high standards all the way through. Review by Muggins here and you can check out the very fun video to lead-off single "Birthday" below.

66. MFC CHICKEN - "Goin' Chicken Crazy!"

Third album from the fried chicken-obsessed North London '50s influenced rock 'n' rollers and it's just as enjoyably daft as ever. Put it this way, there's a song on here called "New Socks" about the joy of, surprisingly, buying a new pair of socks and whether that makes you chuckle to yourself or cast your eyes heavenwards and mutter "Oh for f**k's sake..." probably dictates whether you'll like this or not. But as we say up north, it's alright for them what likes fun. Review here.

More of this nonsense to come with Part 2 tomorrow - don't forget to tune in...