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.