Artist: Nervous Nellie
Title: Where The Nightmare Gets In
Genre: Indie Rock
Release Date: 1st December 2014
Label: Wife
Review Flash
Swedes NERVOUS NELLIE – not the best name in existence it has to be noted – collect three EP’s together with a new track and release it all as an album. Poor value then for fans, even if we are assured this cohesive whole now tells a story and makes sense. Sounds dubious to me. Musically, things are generally too lightweight with moments that are entirely forgettable, flitting about on the edges of something soulful but never quite grasping onto anything emotionally revealing. ‘You’re So Sad’, a plaintive duet with PALOMA FAITH, easily outclasses the rest, it’s wonderfully smooth and assured, and there’s a dreamlike quality to ‘Cat Like Figure’ too. Some decent pop sensibility bounds around on ‘Violence’, even if vocally this jerks about like THE VAPOUR’S ‘Turning Japanese’. And closer ‘No Sound’ expertly captures the new-wave sound of skinny ties and bendy legs which is probably better enjoyed if you don’t actually remember much of the hideousness from that era. That said, it does have a certain charm.
Conclusion: If EP’s generally offer 2 good songs and 2 slabs of filler, then doing the maths will allow the casual listener to cut this album down to size, discard the unloved and just stick with the good bits. Result!
Rating: 6 / 10
