NIGHTINGALES - BECOME NOT BECOMING / BAND OF HOLY JOY - BRUTALISM BEGINS AT HOME reviews

Nightingales:
Become Not Becoming:
Tiny Global Productions:
10"/DD
Out Now

Band of Holy Joy:
Brutalism Begins at Home:
Tiny Global Productions:
10"/DD
Out Now

Nightingales' founder and protagonist Robert Lloyd quite rightly gets aplomb for kickstarting the Birmingham punk scene with former band The Prefects. How refreshing to hear Lloyd and his raucous hard-bitten charges still pulling off chair-legs and throwing them at the staid musical establishment, after a fashion at least. On this limited 10" EP, you get nothing but Nightingales in full throttle - discordant chords, stop-start riffs and rhythms, embittered vocals and impassioned commentary, particularly on the opening pair of songs. B-Side At Best and In go for the jugular with pummelling drums and Lloyd snarling like Nick Cave on the losing side, interspersed with seething cacophonic guitars and shredded basslines. Too Posh To Push is as glorious a racket as you could wish to hear and sounds like a live favourite all day long, while Drown might be under two minutes but it packs a swift punch to the privates nonetheless. 8/10

Alongside Nightingales, other Peel favourites Band of Holy Joy also weigh in with a 10" release on the same imprint. On Brutalism Begins at Home, Jonny and co recall their melodic melancholic '80s period with lead-track Come Home To Me brimming with pop sensibilities and trumpets, so underused by today's pop wannabes. It's a glorious song worthy of being on national radio playlists and a reminder that Band of Holy Joy have knocked out some memorable moments during the last thirty years or so. Removal Man is a sardonic soca that in its instrumental form borders on danceable, again heavy on brass and a nifty walking bassline. An enticing precursor to their new album due later in 2017. 7/10

Both available here