Album Review: Nightingales - "The Last Laugh"

 

There's cult bands and then there's the Nightingales. Even in their '80s heyday, they were very much an underground outfit but in the intervening 40 years, the legend has grown and grown with the likes of Stewart Lee singing their praises and so it is in 2022 that, having mostly previously encountered them on various '80s indie compilations, I finally find myself listening to a Nightingales album in full.

Honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin. Similar to the Fall or Half Man Half Biscuit, there's something brilliantly uncategorisable about the Nightingales and The Last Laugh is the sound of a band who've been around the block enough times to be genuinely comfortable with their sound just kicking loose and making the album that they feel like because, hey, who's gonna argue with them at this point. As such, it's a good glimpse into the weird and frequently wonderful world of this group.

It frequently goes off on unexpected tangents such as the way Frances Sokolow goes from a dark drone to almost Beach Boys style classic pop and then back again. It's also a more accessible album than you'd expect with the likes of Spread Yourself Out's twisted rockabilly or the bluesy strum of Bloody Breath packing a melody that, if like myself you're new to this band, you might find a bit surprising. Song titles like I Needed The Money At The Time and the BoZo-bashing Sunlit Uplands (Turn That Frown Upside Down) which memorably refers to our clown of an ex-PM as "the king of all the big girls' blouses" showing a sly sense of humour lurking underneath as well. Lloyd's excellent vocal interplay with Fliss Kitson is something else that elevates this album up as well, kind of like a post-punk Eugene Reynolds and Fay Fife - listen to Mind Of Stone with its skittering guitars and Lloyd's bluesy growl and Kitson's warble working in perfect tandem for proof. The psychedelic freakout of Mark Meets No Mark and the gentle countrified My Sweet Friend, meanwhile, is a suitably contrary but great one-two to finish this one on. 

Swinging between genres like a monkey on Tizer but never losing you through unlistenability, this really does prove why the Nightingales are a band who command such a loyal following all these years later. Whether you're a veteran follower of the band or just discovering them the way this writer is, The Last Laugh is definitely well worth a listen if you want something a bit different to listen to this month.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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