Moderate Rock

I should have written this over a year ago. More even. The Nightmares formed in late 2017, played their first gig six months later, and in April of last year (basically a lifetime ago these days), released their debut EP. Although most of the Newport quartet had been in bands before, the self-titled effort is still outrageously confident and complete-sounding.

But I can only tell you all this because I finally heard the band for the first time this week, with the release of their new single, ‘Give Up the Hoax’. It’s a smoky, slow-building slice of indie rock that will get a physical release on hand-numbered limited edition red 7″ vinyl at the end of the month.

The band- vocalist and guitarist Adam Parslow, keyboardist Eleanor Coburn, excellently named bassist Benjamin T. Mainwaring, and James Mattock on drums- call themselves noir pop, and they lean pretty hard into the kind of imagery you might expect. There is make-up around their eyes, crosses in their hands, and knives and vampire bats on their cover art. The halloween (or close enough) release date for the vinyl is probably no accident.

But as well as style, The Nightmares possess a ton of substance. They remind me a little of bands like AFI and Anberlin, and a ton of bands like The Cure, New Order, or that one great No Devotion record. Dreamy.