Ryan's second and third albums since the messy break-up of his old group People On Vacation (2016's "The Devil's In The Detail" and 2019's "This Is The Sound") are both very good as well but this does seem to be the one that I keep coming back to of his the most often. Songs like "Freak Flag", "Be Kind Rewind" and "Karaoke With No Crowd" are great slices of tuneful but thoughtful pop-punk and remain in his live set to this day. With the Harlequin Ghosts' profile growing all the time, expect Ryan and his band to keep moving onwards and upwards in the 2020s.
39. CHEAP TRICK - "Bang, Zoom, Crazy...Hello?" (2016) (Review here)
The power-pop veterans managed a brace of albums released surprisingly close together in the last decade but this one narrowly edges it over 2017's "We're All Alright!" for me. Packing all the hooks, choruses and earworms you'd expect from messrs Zander and Nielsen, the likes of "Heart On The Line" and "When I Wake Up Tomorrow" were good additions to Cheap Trick's back catalogue and proved that the band were very much still out there and kicking.
38. SILVER SUN - "A Lick And A Promise" (2013) (Review here)
A reunion that came and went with disappointingly little fanfare, "A Lick And A Promise" might actually be Silver Sun's best album since their debut veering from the trademark power-pop of "I Just Wanna Treat You Right" through the almost new wave style synth stylings of "She's With The Band" to the sunny acoustics hiding dark lyrics of "Smalltown Affair". James Broad has had the band up and gigging periodically throughout the decade and hopefully more will be to follow in the 2020's but it really is time this group were given the kudos they deserve.
37. TERRORVISION - "Super Delux" (2010)
"Super Delux" would turn out to be the sole album from the Mk2 version of Terrorvision throughout the decade although the band continue to gig regularly and even put a Christmas single out the other month. Although not quite up to the standard of "How To Make Friends And Influence People" or "Regular Urban Survivors" it was still a fine comeback effort with "Demolition Song" and "Pushover" deservedly taking their place in the live set among better known efforts. Hopefully another new album will be forthcoming soon.
36. CJ WILDHEART - "Mable" (2014) (Review here)
The first of CJ's trilogy of solo albums before he returned to the Wildhearts fold full time, "Mable" was also his best, telling the story of a messy few years following the 'Hearts' break-up around the turn of the decade. Songs like "Down The Drain", "Next To You" and "Kentucky Fried" welded some thoughtful lyrics to a memorable hook just the same way as Honeycrack used to do way back when. 2016's "Robot" was a solid follow-up while 2017's "Blood" moved into much heavier territory and was described by CJ as his "venting" album. It's to be seen if more solo stuff will be forthcoming from the guy but fingers crossed...
35. THE QUIREBOYS - "Black Eyed Sons" (2014) (Review here)
The Quireboys were certainly a busy band in the last decade, putting out no less than four albums of original material plus a blues covers album. While some of the subsequent efforts did betray a group arguably spreading themselves a bit too thin (although this year's "Amazing Disgrace" did a good job of steadying the ship), "Black Eyed Sons" was probably the pick of the bunch, blending Stonesy rockers such as "Lullaby Of London Town" with some more thoughtful moments such as the quite lovely "Monte Cassino (Lady Lane)" Very much a British institution and hopefully one that'll be around for a long time to come.
34. MOTOCHRIST - "Corvette Summer" (2010) (Review here)
Motochrist managed two albums in the teens, this one and 2015's "Chrome". Although the latter was a good effort as well, "Corvette Summer" just shades it as the better of the two for me, perfectly capturing the spit 'n' sawdust sleaze-punk of this band perfectly with "Sidewinder" and "Snowbeast" bringing the scuzz and the cheeky blues-gospel of "Big Love" and the countrified "Evil Is As Evil Does" providing some much-appreciated variety. A criminally under-rated band - catch 'em when they're over here next year and see for yourself.
33. THE SPEEDWAYS - "Just Another Regular Summer" (2018) (Review here)
Another real surprise from the latter half of the decade, the Speedways mutated out of "good but nowt special" pop-punks the Breakdowns but rapidly eclipsed their former band in terms of quality with "Just Another Regular Summer" bringing back memories of every good power-pop band down the years from the Undertones and Generation X to the Barracudas and the Biters. Still very much out there and gigging, you really should check this band out if you've not already.
32. VAN HALEN - "A Different Kind Of Truth" (2012)
When Dave and Eddie announced that the reunited Van Halen would be making a comeback album, you could have been forgiven for letting a gulp out but as it turned out, "A Different Kind Of Truth" was a good effort from these veterans, veering from the anthemic "Big River" to the spiky acoustic-led "Stay Frosty". Just like the classic Van Halen albums, it was a good soundtrack to the endless summer. Unfortunately (but arguably somewhat predictably), the reunion was put on ice towards the middle of the decade with various members going off to do their own thing but at least they left us with something good to remember it by.
31. TURBONEGRO - "Sexual Harrassment" (2012) (Review here)
Things weren't looking promising at the start of the decade for Turbonegro with the departure of long time singer Hank von Helvete but the recruitment of Tony "Duke of Nothing" Sylvester to replace him proved a wise move and "Sexual Harrassment" was the sound of a band rejuvenated with the scuzzy likes of "You Give Me Worms" and "Dude Without A Face" hitting with all the heaviness of a 16 ton weight. It would take them until 2018 to do a follow-up in "Rock 'n' Roll Machine" which alienated a few fans with a more synth-heavy sound but still packed enough of a punch to reward those who stuck with it. Let's hope they're around for a long time to come.
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