By the time Joanovarc released this, their debut album, they'd been regular fixtures on the live scene for over a decade so the pressure was definitely on and, happy to say, they more than delivered. Full throttle rock 'n' roll with killer tunes and hooks ("Live Rock 'n' Roll" and "Seeds of Summer" being the picks), the sky seemed to be the limit for them. Unfortunately, a below-par second album this year (which saw them veering closer to the glossy MOR of Pat Benatar or Vixen) saw long-time drummer Debbie depart and singer Sam leaving to become a mum in the immediate aftermath. Guitarists Shelley and Laura have put a new line-up together and are still out there touring but as the end of the decade approaches, it kind of feels as if this band's moment may have passed now unfortunately. Still, "Ride Of Your Life" is well worth tracking down if you missed it first time around.
89. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE - "Seculo Seculorum" (2013)
Obsessive Compulsive's third album saw them at their most brutally heavy, raging against corporatism and conservatism with a righteous fury that made this album difficult to top. Unfortunately it would also turn out to be the band's swansong with Kelii and Giz subsequently resurfacing in the more alt-rock inclined Empty Page (whose sole album to date is also well worth checking out).
88. SLASH - "Slash" (2010)
This was what you wanted a Slash solo album to be basically. Recorded after the messy disintegration of Velvet Revolver, it saw the man occasionally known as Saul Hudson pull in a few favours from various friends (Lemmy, Iggy, Ozzy, Ian Astbury and Chris Cornell among others) and put their vocal talents to good use on some proper epics. The project would eventually take on a life of its own with Slash putting a full-time backing band called the Conspirators together fronted by Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy but subsequent albums were a bit disappointing and while Kennedy was undoubtedly technically a far superior singer to Axl Rose, seeing him struggling to summon up the sheer fury required to cover the old G'n'R songs in a live environment was a bit painful to be honest. It's maybe not that big a surprise that the closing years of the decade saw Slash finally reconcile with Rose and rejoin G'n'R although I wouldn't be entirely surprised if we haven't seen the last of his solo albums...
87. SONIC BOOM SIX - "The F Bomb" (2016) (Review here)
There were a number of political ska-punk bands springing up in the latter years of the decade but the best album of this genre for me during the last ten years was this one by long time stalwarts Manchester's Sonic Boom Six. Packed with innovation and a righteous fury but with the overriding message that building bridges is always preferable to burning them, this was SB6's strongest effort to date.
86. THE BELLRAYS - "Black Lightning" (2010)
Still very much out there and kicking arse, "Black Lightning" was proof that the Bellrays haven't mellowed any since their brief spell as NME darlings at the turn of the millennium. Still packing the sort of power that would put a lot of younger bands to shame and with Lisa Kekaula's voice still packing the same soul-punk punch that it always has, hopefully this band will be a regular fix on the circuit for many years to come.
85. THEE DAGGER DEBS - "Thee Dagger Debs" (2018) (Review here)
Blasting out of East London sounding like the bastard offspring of Lee Brilleaux and Joan Jett, Thee Dagger Debs' self-titled effort was one of the better debut albums of the second half of the decade. Mixing tightwire Feelgoods style pub rock with the occasional bit of Suzi Q style glam rock stomp, this was a very promising start for this band and hopefully the first of many albums to come from them.
84. THE MISSION - "The Brightest Light" (2013) (Review here)
Reviled by some Mission fans, I'm gonna stick my neck out and say I actually far prefer this to the rather Mish-by-numbers follow-up, 2016's "Another Fall From Grace". From the intense voodoo rock rhythms of "Black Cat Bone" through the Stonesy "Girl In The Fur Skin Rug" to the desolate "When The Trap Clicks Shut Behind Us", this was Wayne Hussey and co throwing a few new tricks into their playbook to good effect and delivering a solid, varied and enjoyable album.
83. THE INTERRUPTERS - "Fight The Good Fight" (2018) (Review here)
Signed to Rancid's Hellcat records, the Interrupters have been slowly getting better with each release and their third album properly announced their arrival as big hitters on to the scene. Fired up with a righteous political fury but with an overbearingly positive message for negative times, there's every indication the Interrupters could well be one of the bands of the 2020's.
82. THE SENSIBLE GRAY CELLS - "A Postcard From Britain" (2013) (Review here)
No mention here for the rather disappointing Damned comeback album, 2018's "Evil Spirits" but this side project from Captain Sensible and Paul Gray was a far superior effort, packed full of Sensible's trademark off-the-wall observations with some great psychedelic-pop-punk tunes. There's talk of a second SGC album being in the pipeline for next year and hopefully it should be another good reminder of the pair's songwriting skills.
81. GIUDA - "Racey Roller" (2013) (Review here)
Giuda have been a regular fixture during this decade, putting out no less than four albums but their debut remains the strongest, sounding like the missing link between the Sweet and Generation X. Subsequent efforts saw the law of diminishing returns slowly taking hold although they've never really put out anything especially disappointing but to hear them at full throttle, this is the best place to go.
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