The Nightingales - Mind Over Matter
10/10
Last year's excellent For Fuck’s Sake deserved a far larger audience than the lucky 600 that managed to get the limited release. For this follow-up, post-punk semi-legends and "the misfit's misfits" The Nightingales join up with John Robb's Louder Than War for a wider release. Throughout, Lloyd, Apperley, drummer/vocalist Fliss Kitson and bassist/producer Andreas Schmid make a wonderful racket, rooted in (but never limited by) rock 'n' roll bombast, glam stomp and punk sneer, with small but significant injections of swing, doo-wop and 60s girl group harmonising.With an album this strong there are no lows but then it is impossible to pick a highlight. The interplay between the vox of Lloyd and Kitson is simply glorious on The Man That Time Forgot and Bit of Rough. Taffy Come Home references Ballroom Blitz and Crazy Horses and takes them in unexpected new directions. For Different Folks and Stroke of Genius veer into psyche-motorik-garage territory. With its spoken word, mockumentary style Gales Doc is laced with a wit so dry it is positively desiccated whilst Great British Exports addresses the age of empire in scathing style.
So, an instant classic. Go and get it.
