Q Magazine – December 2005

The Nightingales
In The Good Ol Country Way
Caroline True

***

When the archetypal indie band went country.

In 1996, country in the UK was neither respected nor ‘alt’. It was in it’s
natural state: a specialist concern. That year, for reasons inspired but
unfathomable, Birmingham’s Nightingales (loved by John Peel, ignored by the
public) broke out of their indie ghetto to go country, albeit grubby, fiddle
led country. The results were quirky, but the combination of Robert Lloyd’s
droll wordsmithery and Martin Smith’s violin have aged surprisingly well.
Down in The Dumps might just have been the song of The Nightingales’ little
life, A slew of extra, less countrified tracks dilute the experience but it
remains a magnificent folly.

John Aizelwood