The Nightjars - Towards Light

OK, The Nightjars…I'm afraid I must 'fess up and admit I lost their CD barely minutes after I received it. I know, professional. So this review is based solely on the four tracks on their myspace, which as luck would have it also appear on Towards Light, their debut 7-track EP. I'll have to give them the benefit of the doubt about the other three – you surely can't fit that much filler on a 7 track CD anyway, can you?

So here we are then, aping the A+R hordes and judging a band on Mr Murdoch's compressed-to-hell output. Nice banner, by the way lads. You've definitely got the 'we're moody and from Manchester' thing down pat, although I'm not quite sure how a badly burned Preston from the Ordinary Boys got in on the side…

Good lot of influences too, although as always the danger of setting the 'compare us!' bar way too high is ever present. Note to self: when a band proclaim to be 'influenced by Sonic Youth' they invariably mean 'we heard Teen Age Riot once and didn't mind it too much, actually'.

Lead track You Set Me Reeling sets off with a sprightly La's-esque chiming arpeggio and rolls along nicely, the chorus shifting the song up a gear or two before the interweaving guitars return and bring it to a close. It's nice. But it's nice in the 'yes, I'll have a Rich Tea, that would be lovely. But are you sure there's no Ginger Nuts left, though?' kind of way. The vocals don't help – there's something very popular-kid-at-school-discovers-indie-five-years-after-everyone-else about them, and you just know if you could hear the lyrics more clearly, the cringing would be involuntary. In fact, on MDMA, you can hear them – "I'm in love with this city/My girlfriend's so pretty, pretty". Yeah, and I bet she's the Netball captain as well.

No Kicks is the highlight, a droning, gothic Chameleons-tinged brute of a song that demonstrates the band's potential if they keep a tight leash on the singer and let the guitarists take the brunt of the work. In fact, it almost makes me wish I hadn't lost the CD. Almost.
6/10