The Nightingales In The Good Old Country Way Caroline True Records With every week there seems to be another lorry load of reissued albums seemingly lost in time, of which most are advertised as having had huge influence on a crop of current trendy acts. For The Nightingales¹ In The Good Old Country Way this is certainly not the case. Originally released in 1986 this was an album that bravely broke into new territory – notably leaving footmarks in punk, rock, pop and country & western on a adventurous journey into the unknown. Although making limited imprints on the majority of the mainstream market The Nightingales were quickly recognised as true pioneers without whom little progress could be made and a huge underground fan base soon won them some better known admirers such as the late great John Peel, The Fall¹s Mark E. Smith and Creation Records¹ Alan McGee. After seeing The Nightingales play live for the first time Peel noted they ³turned in a performance of the type that will serve to confirm their excellence when other infinitely better known bands stand revealed as charlatans.² The bands themselves had first performed under the name of the Prefects but when vocalist Robert Lloyd became involved this primarily punk act soon evolved into The Nightingales and the lyrical wit and prowess Lloyd brought to the sound suitably balanced the output. This wit is illustrated accurately in I Spit In Your Gravy and Part Time Moral England. But even when the focus is shifted from Lloyd¹s obvious yet underrated writing talent the rest of the band do more than enough to carry the valued baton and riffs like that in the minute-long introduction to Down In The Dumps send a clear signal of the bands¹ rock¹n¹roll sensibilities – the Guardian once went as far as to proclaim The Nightingales as ³the greatest rock¹n¹roll band in the world². The exact extent of their importance in both the British and world music scene is of course debateable but the re-release of this remarkably diverse album does at least offer The Nightingales a second chance to be remembered.

by Mike Hill

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