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.