One kiss and I was disembowelled

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

24/10/25 : From The Pyre - The Last Dinner Party

Our second visit with TLDP - I liked the last one and I've enjoyed catching them at a couple of festivals as well, so I have no reason to suspect I won't enjoy this one as well.

Yeah, I enjoyed it - but I'm not entirely sure how I'd describe it. Last time I said they'd been listening to their mum's Siouxsie Sioux albums without directly copying the sound - but this time around I'd say they've been checking out her old Kate Bush stuff. They've avoided the worst of the quirk and it's got a beautifully clean sound to it with some impressive musicianship - but just don't ask me to describe it any more than that. So just check it out and see if you can do any better.

We're at #2 with a new entry in the chart this week and the rest of the top five are Taylor Swift (of course - the charts are so broken at the minute), Olivia Dean (damn, she's doing well), Tame Impala (a new entry) and Sabrina Carpenter.  And we've got quite the selection of new entries this week...

Tame Impala (#4)
Last time we met them (on Rolling Stones Top 500 Albums list), I didn't hate it but struggled to understand the appeal. And guess what happened this time - yup. It's quite tuneful dancey-funk, but I've no idea what I'm supposed to with it.

Sam Ryder (#11)
I like Sam's enthusiasm without loving his music, but he's dropped some of the campness here, so I enjoyed this more than I was expecting - it's very Paolo Nutini-ish with some decent tunes.

Dave Gilmour (#12)
This is a live album of his last tour supporting this album - I'm sure it's fine but I didn't bother listening to it.

Miles Kane (#13)
I find Miles an enjoyably idiosyncratic character without loving anything he's done - apparently I've listened to one of his solo albums but was surprised to see this is his sixth. And it's got very strong Marc Bolan vibes - I didn't mind it at all if only because it was so nice to hear something so unashamedly retro.

Of Monsters And Men (#16)
Last time we met them, I really liked their sound - and so have obviously never checked anything else of theirs out. I didn't feel this was quite as immediate as my last visit, but it's still a very decent album and I particularly liked "Fruit Bat" which is a track that sounds like Arcade Fire at their finest. It's also a nicely titled album (All Is Love And Pain In The Mouse Parade) with some nicely titled tracks (including "Tuna In A Can", "The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road" and "Styrofoam Cathedral"). I'm definitely going to try and remember to listen to this again.

Rianne Downey (#18)
I thought I'd never heard of her, but it turns out she appeared on this album. And it's in a similar vein to Mr Heaton, but with a slightly more country vibe - I was reminded of First Aid Kit. Her accent is quite interesting - I assumed she was Irish, but she sings with a cross between a US and a European accent, so obviously I checked where she was from and she's Scottish. And this is another one I'd like to listen to again.

Ashnikko (#32)
I've never heard of Ashnikko but I liked this one too - she reminded me of Grimes or Charli XCX. She is also a very naughty girl if her lyrics are anything to go on.

Sabaton (#58)
Ah - Swedish power-metal. I think we can safely avoid this one and say if you like it then you're welcome to it.

All Time Low (#68)
From my limited contact (catching them at Reading) I like them, so was looking forward to this. And yeah, it's pretty decent and feels like it deserves much better than #68 and disappearing next week, which is almost certainly what's going to happen. I'd also be tempted to go and see them live again on the strength of this.

The weirdest re-entry is Simple Minds' Once Upon A Time (#60) but a 40th (FORTIETH!!!) anniversary release explains that away nicely. Last week I said that Richard Ashcroft would be at #23 and I'm completely wrong because he's completely gone - it felt like it deserved better than that. TLDP also feel like they deserve better and I think they'll manage it - let's go for #23 for them as well, but I suspect that may be generous. And this week's Taylor stats are one in the top one and six in the entire chart.

Wikipedia tells us this is their second album and was originally supposed to have been produced by James Ford who produced their last album and used to be in The Last Shadow Puppets along with Miles Kane. Unfortunately though James was diagnosed with leukaemia so Markus Dravs (he's worked with a LOAD of people) got the job and there's a general view he's done a great job. Critically, it's been very well received (four or five stars from everyone) and it's done pretty well globally, making the top ten in Australia, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany - which surprises me because it feels quite an eccentric English sound. So well done them!

discogs.com tells us you can pick up a CD for £13 or an LP for £23 but if you want a signed limited edition white label then it's going to set you back £150. I won't be spending anything on the album, but I thought it was a varied and interesting offering which merits a re-listen and is certainly in the running for album of the week. 

I think my album of the week is Of Monsters And Men, but The Last Dinner Party, Rianne Downey and (surprisingly) Ashnikko are all tempting me back for a relisten. But all the new entries (even the ones I didn't listen to) feel like they're probably decent examples of "that sort of thing" and worth checking out if you feel you might like them - in the olden days they'd have hung around for a couple of weeks to maybe pick up a bigger audience, but because the charts are so broken that's just not going to happen. Which is a shame - but obviously I don't have a solution to it all.

17/10/25 - In which I re-evaluate my opinion
31/10/25 - Well done but it didn't grab me