It’s unusual for an act to hit its peak after four decades. Yet here it is. BSM brings you the latest video from The Nightingales a band who have climbed to fame and become one of Britain’s most dazzling live bands.
Some of The Nightingales’ historic lack of acclaim stems from a density of ideas, which the band see no need to mine for profit. ‘It Is’ milks Sister Ray dissonance over a Krautrock groove, with Robert’s vocals calling to mind the last gasps of a drowning man while Fliss turns the tune on its head with voice recalling Nancy Sinatra on ‘Some Velvet Morning’. But this description’s a crude approximation of small aspects of a whole which sounds utterly unlike any of those, and breath taking though it is, odds are they’ll never record anything like it again, but the same could be said for the rest of the album.
John Peel noted, “Their performances will serve to confirm their excellence when we are far enough distanced from the 1980s to look at the period rationally and other, infinitely better known, bands stand revealed as charlatans.” It’s doubtful he would have bothered with such a pre-emptive defence if he’d been able to witness the explosive growth of the band during their second incarnation.
They are out on a European tour currently, catch them live and life it for yourself…
