>It’s snowing here in the UK. Well, when I say ‘snowing’, I mean, ‘light smattering of quickly melting white sludge which is inevitably causing the country to grind to a pathetic halt’. So, seeing as the motorways have spontaneously reconstructed the scene out of Falling Down that causes Michael Douglas’ teeth to grind themselves into oblivion, let’s get zen and reflect on The Top Five Bands Of ANBAD In January!

It was a bumper month of great new bands, which started slowly, but quickly and suspiciously grew to something much more impressive than anticipated. Keep slanderous musings on any parallels with Michael Douglas’ wife’s career to yourself, and wrap your eyes around these five great bands:

The Ribbon – Who are so very good, they were very nearly Band of The Month. We said: “Displaying a delicacy, sureness and sense of fragile grandeur that a hundred two-bit ‘electronic’ bands would kill for, The Ribbon are several agile, artful and well-placed steps ahead so many others, it’s silly.”

The Unbearables – We said: “Their song Zombies Unite leaps out and gnaws you to a bloody pulp in the most cheerful way possible. Clunky guitars, and a gruesomely threatening choir meet to create a call-to-arms for good-natured undead fiends.“

Joe Gideon And The Shark – We said: “Grinding, raw, direct and shorn of rock pleasantries, Joe Gideon and the Shark are a fantastic grubby stab of clunky rock.”

Schande Boy! – We said, whilst putting a Donk on it: “Schande Boy is a real one-off – creative, unusual and left-field – all things we really love on ANBAD. If a Donk remix appears, it would only be the (deeply cretinous) icing on the cake.”

AND JANUARY’S NEW BAND OF THE MONTH IS…

Here We Go Magic – We said: “It’s hard to imagine who could be so cold hearted and lacking in heart to not love Here We Go Magic. Delicate, bold and inventive, the sounds they make will linger in your head long after you’ve heard them; if the melodies themselves don’t loop crazily in your memory, then the feeling they induced will.”

So, if you’re not still reeling from that collection of bands – possibly the best Top Five yet – then why not fill your boots with new bands instead of cold snow here, in the lovely, warm and inviting Best Of ANBAD Archive!