Song of the Day: Maruja - Trenches

August 30, 2025 Peter Kimpton

Maruja’s single Trenches is the latest to herald their debut album *Pain To Power*

Song of the Day: Influenced by Rage Against The Machine, a seething, menacing new track by the Manchester jazz-punk band, one they describe as “a call for revolution in the face of the oppressive,” with searing, combative lyrics by vocalist Harry Wilkinson and interweaving sax by Joseph Carroll, heralding their debut album Pain to Power, out on 12 September via Music For Nations

Jeffrey Lewis – Chillin' In The East Vill

April 20, 2020 Peter Kimpton

The ever sharp and prolific Jeffrey Lewis

Song of the Day: Who better, and who indeed has written such a nailed-on brilliant song about coronavirus lockdown than the super-sharp lyricist, prolific songwriter and comic book artist from New York’s Lower East Village?

Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen

July 11, 2018 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: A title with a sneer, and all kinds of irony, one of three classics from the ultimate punk band is a tribute to Britishness and finger up the establishment, and never more appropriate than now

The Damned - New Rose

April 24, 2018 Peter Kimpton

The early Damned: from left, Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies, Brian James and Captain Sensible

Song of the Day: Today let's go back to 1976, and one of the flowering moments of punk, with the first single by the London band, a declaration of love, perhaps not just for a girl, but for the music genre itself

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Moonlight On Vermont / Tropical Hot Dog Night

January 26, 2018 Peter Kimpton

Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet – musician, artist, visionary.

Song of the Day: With the recent passing of The Fall's Mark E Smith, and all the songs, tributes and stories that have followed, it now seems only appropriate to follow up with music Smith loved by one of his major influences

The Fall – Blindness (and farewell Mark E Smith)

January 24, 2018 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: With the sudden news of the passing of Mark E Smith, how can we choose a song to exemplify this force of nature, this difficult genius, this guttural great, this prince of post-punk lyricists inspired by HP Lovecraft, William Blake, Wyndham Lewis, Gene Vincent and krautrock

The Transplants – Diamonds and Guns

October 2, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: Following yesterday's Fall number, a track from a very different origin but with its own brand of shouty catchiness, and a superb piano hook. This 2003 release from Tim Armstrong (Rancid), Rob Aston (Death March) and co from their first eponymous album, and bizarrely, was used on a Garnier Fructis TV commercial

Sham 69 – Hurry Up Harry

August 2, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: With another bar theme, a classic singalong number from the Hersham punk band fronted by Jimmy Pursey, here on Top of the Pops, from their 1978 second album That's Life

The Pogues – Thousands Are Sailing

May 19, 2017 Peter Kimpton

The Pogues, from the cover of the 1988 album If I Should Fall from Grace with God

Song of the Day: From our previous boat song, we continue our voyage across the waters with a remarkable historical perspective from the Anglo-Irish band charting the fate of Irish emigrants

Jilted John – Gordon Is a Moron

May 12, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: Two, three, four! Let's nip back to 1978, and catch Graham Fellows as the sulky teenager John in this comedy classic, crammed of hilarious jealous lines about girlfriend Julie

The Monks - I Hate You

April 20, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: From the humorous anger of Lou Reed, we dip into a lost classic by influential garage and punk pioneers – five GIs stationed in Germany who shaved their heads

Sleaford Mods – Tiswas

March 15, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Sleaford Mods ... Andrew Fearn (left) and Jason Williamson

Song of the Day: From Disposable Heroes' dystopian vision yesterday, we turn the Notts duo in 2014 for some down-to-earth cultural critique via a 1970s children's show

Bow Wow Wow - Go Wild In The Country

March 9, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Bow Wow Wow's controversial album cover, after a Manet painting (see below)

Song of the Day: Let's take a different kind of wildness, with lunch on the lawn, and some unfettered naked behaviour in a 1982 hit that still remains fresh and like the snakes in the grass, absolutely free

Violent Femmes – Blister In The Sun

March 8, 2017 Peter Kimpton

Song of the Day: Let's move back to Violent Femmes' blistering first release from their 1983 eponymous album, giving postpunk an acoustic, folky kick with snares, brilliant bass and scathingly skilful vocals

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black-eyed peas

New Albums …

Featured

Jan 28, 2026

Lucinda Williams: World's Gone Wrong

Jan 28, 2026

New album: The acclaimed veteran country, rock and Americana singer-songwriter and multi-Grammy winner’s latest LP has a title that speaks for itself, but is powerful, angry, defiant and uplifting, and, recorded in Nashville, features guest vocals from Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Brittney Spencer

Jan 28, 2026

Jan 27, 2026

Clothesline From Hell: Slather On The Honey

Jan 27, 2026

New album: His moniker mischievously named after a wrestling move, a highly impressive, independently-created experimental, psychedelic rock debut the the Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Adam LaFramboise

Jan 27, 2026

Jan 27, 2026

Dead Dads Club: Dead Dads Club

Jan 27, 2026

New album: Dynamic, passionate, heart-stirring indie rock in this project fronted by Chilli Jesson (formerly bassist of Palma Violets) with songs spurred by the trauma of losing his father 20 years ago, retelling a defiant and difficult aftermath, with sound boosted by producer Carlos O’Connell of Fontaines D.C.

Jan 27, 2026

Jan 25, 2026

The Paper Kites: If You Go There, I Hope You Find It

Jan 25, 2026

New album: Warm, tender, gently-paced, calmly reflective, beautifully soothing, poetic, melancholic alternative folk and Americana by the band from Melbourne in their seventh LP in 15 years

Jan 25, 2026

Jan 24, 2026

PVA: No More Like This

Jan 24, 2026

New album: Inventive, alluring, sensual, mysterious, minimalistic electronica, trip-hop and experimental pop by the London trio of Ella Harris, Joshua Baxter and Louis Satchell, in this second album following 2022’s Blush, boosted by the creativity of producer and instrumentalist Kwake Bass

Jan 24, 2026

Jan 20, 2026

Imarhan: Essam

Jan 20, 2026

New album: A mesmeric fourth LP in a decade by the band from Tamanrasset, Algeria, whose name means ‘the ones I care about’, their Tuareg music mixing guitar riffs, pop melodies and African rhythms, but this time also evolves slightly away from the desert blues rocky, bluesy influence of contemporaries Tinariwen with electronic elements

Jan 20, 2026

Courtney Marie Andrews: Valentine

Jan 20, 2026

New album: Emotional, beautiful, stirring, Americana, folk and indie-pop by singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, in this latest studio LP in of soaring voice, strong melodies, love, vulnerability and heartbreak, longing and bravery

Jan 20, 2026

Jan 18, 2026

Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic

Jan 18, 2026

New album: Delicate, beautiful, ethereal, meditative new work by the two American experimental composers in their first collaborative LP, with gentle understated vocals, classic synth sounds, and rare harps chosen from from the Paris Musée de la Musique Collection

Jan 18, 2026

Jan 16, 2026

Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X

Jan 16, 2026

New album: The caustic wit of Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with a 13th LP of brilliantly abrasive, dark humoured hip-hop and catchy beats, addressing the rubbish state of the world, as well as local, personal and social irritations through slick nostalgic cultural reference, some expanded sounds, and an eclectic set of guests

Jan 16, 2026

Jan 14, 2026

SAULT: Chapter 1

Jan 14, 2026

New album: As ever, released suddenly without fanfare or any publicity, the prolific experimental soul, jazz, gospel, funk, psychedelia and disco collective of Cleo Sol, Info (aka Dean Josiah Cover) and co return with a stylish, mysterious LP

Jan 14, 2026

The Cribs: Selling A Vibe

Jan 14, 2026

New album: A first LP in five years by the likeable and solid guitar indie-rock Jarman brothers trio from Wakefield, now with their ninth - a catchy, but at times with rueful, bittersweet perspectives on their times in the music business

Jan 14, 2026

Jan 9, 2026

Dry Cleaning: Secret Love

Jan 9, 2026

New album: This third LP by the London experimental post-punk quartet with the distinctive, spoken, droll delivery of Florence Shaw, is packed with striking, vivid, often non seqitur lyrics capturing life’s surreal mundanities and neuroses with a sound coloured and polished by Cate Le Bon as producer

Jan 9, 2026

Dec 31, 2025

Various Artists: ICELOCK CONTINUUM

Dec 31, 2025

New album: An inspiring, evocative, sensual and sonically tactile experimental compilation from the fabulously named underground French label Camembert Électrique, with range of international electronic artists capturing cold winter weather’s many textures - cracking, delicate crunchy ice, snow, electric fog, and frost in many fierce and fragile forms across 98 adventurous tracks

Dec 31, 2025

Dec 18, 2025

Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Three

Dec 18, 2025

Welcome to the third and final part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also Part One, and Part Two. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 18, 2025

new songs …

Featured

Holly Humberstone - To Love Somebody.jpeg

Jan 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Holly Humberstone - To Love Somebody

Jan 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Shimmeringly catchy and singalong, effervescent Abba-esque and Fleetwood Mac-ish piano and synth pop with an eye-catching, vampiric-themed video by the British singer-songwriter from Grantham, heralding her second album Cruel World out on 10 April via Polydor/Universal.

Jan 29, 2026

Jan 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Nathan Fake - Slow Yamaha

Jan 28, 2026

Song of the Day: Hypnotic electronica with woozy layers of smooth resonance and a lattice of shifting analogue patterns by the British artist from Norfolk, taken from his forthcoming album, Evaporator, out on InFiné Music

Jan 28, 2026

Jan 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Charlotte Day Wilson - Lean (featuring Saya Gray)

Jan 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Stylish, striking, sensual experimental electro-pop and R&B in this fabulous collaboration between the two Canadian singer/ multi-instrumentalist from Toronto, out on Stone Woman Music/ XL Recordings

Jan 27, 2026

Jan 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Lime Garden - 23

Jan 26, 2026

Song of the Day: Wonderfully catchy, witty, quirky indie pop about age and adjustment by the Brighton-formed quartet fronted by Chloe Howard, heralding their upcoming album Maybe Not Tonight, out on So Young Records on 10 April

Jan 26, 2026

Madra Salach - It's A Hell Of An Age - EP.jpeg

Jan 25, 2026

Song of the Day: Madra Salach - The Man Who Seeks Pleasure

Jan 25, 2026

Song of the Day: A powerful, slow-simmering and gradually intensifying, drone-based original folk number about the the flipsides of love and hedonism by the young Irish traditional and alternative folk band, with comparisons to Lankum, from the recently released EP It's a Hell of an Age, out on Canvas Music

Jan 25, 2026

Jan 24, 2026

Song of the Day: Adult DVD - Real Tree Lee

Jan 24, 2026

Song of the Day: Catchy, witty, energised acid-dance-punk with echoes of Underworld and Snapped Ankles by the dynamic, innovative band from Leeds in a new number about a dodgy character of toxic masculinity and online ignorance, and their first release on signing to Fat Possum

Jan 24, 2026

Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night - War Child - HELP 2.jpeg

Jan 23, 2026

Song of the Day: Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night (for War Child HELP 2 charity album)

Jan 23, 2026

Song of the Day: A simmering, potent, contemplative new track by acclaimed Sheffield band, their first song since 2022’s album The Car, with proceeds benefiting the charity War Child, heralding the upcoming HELP (2) compilation out on 6 March with various contributors

Jan 23, 2026

Jan 22, 2026

Song of the Day: White Denim - (God Created) Lock and Key

Jan 22, 2026

Song of the Day: The Austin, Texas-formed LA-based rockers return with an infectiously catchy groove fusing rock, funk, dub, soul, and down-dirty blues with some playful self-mythologising and darker themes, heralding 13th album, 13, out on 24 April via Bella Union

Jan 22, 2026

Jan 21, 2026

Song of the Day: Holy Fuck - Evie

Jan 21, 2026

Song of the Day: The Canadian experimental indie rock and electronica quartet from Toronto return with a pulsating new track of thrumming bass and shimmering keyboards, heralding their forthcoming new album Event Beat, out on 27 March via Satellite Services

Jan 21, 2026

Jan 20, 2026

Song of the Day: KAVARI - IRON VEINS

Jan 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Exciting, cutting-edge electronica and hardcore dance music by innovative the Birkenhead-born, Glasgow-based artist Cameron Winters (she), with a stylish, striking video, heralding the forthcoming EP, PLAGUE MUSIC, out digitally and on 12-inch vinyl on 6 February via XL Recordings

Jan 20, 2026

Jan 19, 2026

Song of the Day: A$AP Rocky - Punk Rocky

Jan 19, 2026

Song of the Day: The standout catchy hip-pop/soul/pop track from the New York rapper aka Rakim Athelston Mayers’ (also the husband of Rihanna) recently released album, Don’t Be Dumb, featuring also the voice of Cristoforo Donadi, and out on A$AP Rocky Recordings

Jan 19, 2026

Jan 18, 2026

Song of the Day: Buck Meek - Gasoline

Jan 18, 2026

Song of the Day: The Texas-born Big Thief guitarist returns with an beautifully stirring, evocative, poetic love-enthralled indie-folk single of free association made-up words and quantum leap feelings, rolling drums and strums, heralding his upcoming fourth solo album, The Mirror, out on 27 February via 4AD

Jan 18, 2026

Word of the week

Featured

Zumbador dorado - mango bumblebee Puerto Rico.jpeg

Jan 22, 2026

Word of the week: zumbador

Jan 22, 2026

Word of the week: A wonderfully evocative noun from the Spanish for word buzz, and meaning both a South American hummingbird, a door buzzer, and symbolic of resurrection of the soul in ancient Mexican culture, while also serving as the logo for a tequila brand

Jan 22, 2026

Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: aspectabund

Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: This rare adjective describes a highly expressive face or countenance, where emotions and reactions are readily shown through the eyes or mouth

Jan 8, 2026

Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: bellonion (or belloneon)

Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: It sounds like a bulbous, multi-layered peeling vegetable, but this obscure mechanical musical instrument invented in 1812 in Dresden consisted of 24 trumpets and two kettle drums and, designed to mimic the sound of a marching band, might also make your eyes water

Dec 24, 2025

Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: crapulence

Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025

Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: discalceate

Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025