The Nightingales: Whats Not To Love?

Nightingales Robert Lloyd (singer/lyricist), Alan Apperley (guitar, ex-Prefects), Daren Garratt (drums, ex-Pram; but then, aren’t we all?), Stephen Lowe (bass), Matt Wood (guitar), and sometime guest vocalist Sabi Shah (of Manic Cough) — follow up their 2006 release Out of True with this mini-album featuring five originals and an oddly-chosen Nancy Sinatra cover. Produced by Bob Lamb (Spacemen 3, Broadcast, and UB40, to name just a few), The Nightingales traffic in the sort of angular, discordant indie rock produced by The Fall, though without the intensity or anti-charisma of Mark E. Smith. Consequently, the disc is completely forgettable. Starting off with the experimental-sounding, mostly tuneless clatter of “Plenty of Spare”, on which singer/bandleader Lloyd delivers a spoken word rant worthy of a street corner preacher, things don’t get much better. Most of the time Lloyd can’t be bothered to sing, which I’d be willing to overlook if he had a knack for a pop hook, or wrote engaging melodies, even occasionally. Without that, even the potentially interesting cover of the Nancy Sinatra chestnut “Drummer Boy” falls flat.