The Nightingales rumble into view, punch drunk, belligerent, witheringly sardonic and, as always, highly entertaining, nearly half a century after they changed their name from the Prefects to the current moniker. Of that original crew, only Robert Lloyd remains, but no matter, he’s been the heart and soul of the enterprise since their Pigs on Purpose days. “The powerless are the problem, as if, as if,” he shouts with gleeful menace in “Same Old Riff,” daring anyone to get offended. No please, come at him, he’ll relish the fight.
This is a band that rocks hard and with discipline, nailing rockabilly riffs and stringed-instrument flourishes in the opener “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Nightingales shows are hard drinking, debauched affairs, but the band nails its furious riffs even when under the influence. On the record, though, you appreciate how tightly these songs are put together, the hammering rhythms, the strident slash of guitars, the bitter, black cleverness of the words.
New music from the Mekons, the Ex and the Nightingales—and all on the same release day—will remind you how fierce the politics in punk rock used to be, in what literate terms it was once couched and how funny it could be. “Same Old Riff” attacks current discontent with the same fervor once reserved for Thatcherism—and why not? All the old repressions are still around, and a few new ones have been added.
Not all of the songs are straight up bangers. “The Gates of Heaven Ajar” considers death and inequity from inside a warped and distended music hall, recruiting, even, a sad trombone to underline ridiculousness of tragedy. “Warm Up” launches a firestorm of guitars as the Nightingales takes issue once again with music press pigeonholing.
But the best tracks are happy-go-lucky bomb threats, a tight and massive onslaught of rock and roll noise supporting acerbic commentary on the way things are. Here’s a band that has never conformed and never appeased, once again following a wandering guitar lick through bristly thickets of drums and woodblock chocks. Says Lloyd in “The Best Revenge,” “The more one pleases generally, the less profound the pleasure, to refrain from imitation is the best, the best revenge.” Still throwing punches after all these years.
"In The Good Old Country Way" was initially released in 1986 - right before the C86 revolution, which The Nightingales were part of (at least they're on my 3 CD collection from Cherry Red). I'm a late convert to The Nightingales, but they're is a edgy, buzzsaw melodicism at work on most of their work. It's like an excellent mishmash of Orange Juice, Pere Ubu, Josef K, The Fall and The June Brides.
But really, Robert Lloyd's voice and lyrics are immediately recognizable as The Nightingales.
You should know that this is available from Fire USA with a 30% discount (use the code FIRESUMMER). Look in the sale section for some gems - The Chills entire 2000s output as well as reissues of Submarine Bells and Soft Bomb. Also, you can get the excellent Memorials release mentioned here about a month ago.
This week we present The Actor, a poem by Robert Lloyd with an introduction by Edmund Blunden and embellished with theatrical figures by Randolph Schwabe, who also designed the cover and title page. The typography, binding, and printing were done by Cyril William Beaumont, who published the book in 1926 in an edition of 270 copies, 60 copies were printed on Japanese vellum, and 210 copies (including ours) were printed on hand-made paper. Cyril W. Beaumont (1891-1976) was a British dance historian, critic, publisher, and bookseller. He established the Beaumont Press in 1917.
This book is another generous donation from our friend, Jerry Buff.
