The Nectars – Sci-Fi Television
The Nectars - Sci-Fi Television
Release Date: 25th May
2018
I seriously need to get a set of ‘early-call’
flags right now. It might only be mid-May but if I had the aforementioned flags
I would stick one firmly in the squidgy centre of ‘Sci-Fi Television’ to claim it
as an early, and very strong, contender or album of the year. That’s right, the
debut offering by New York quartet the Nectars is a riot from start to finish
and it doesn’t take long to get where it’s going which are just two of the
reasons I love it. Strap yourself in and let’s go for a ride. Seriously, clunk-click
on that seat-belt, this could get hairy.
Opening track ‘Holy’ sums this
album as a rip-snorting bass line emerges from a basement, followed by the
drums and the kind of vocals we haven’t heard since early No Doubt – complete for
four-counts and yelps. It’s all over in a hedonistic garage-punk blur of little
over a minute but there’s a song in there so don’t skip that opening track. Then
comes the first of the string of singles that earned the Nectars their sizzling
reputation as ‘Heaven’ bursts out of the speakers. Another strong bass line is front
and centre here (it’s definitely a theme) but it’s front-woman Jess Kenny and
her powerful but sugar-coated vocal that makes this really jump out as she
sings “There’s so much heaven and I don’t want to fight you” with breathy
desperation.
The pace drops down a notch or
two on ‘Cemetary Girl’ which is utterly perfect slice of grunge-pop with Veruca
Salt power vocals, Beatles-esque structures and the kind of guitars Kurt would
bust out when he was feeling playful. It’s a lot of fun. The standout track on
the album and most recent single is ‘We Will Run’ which has all the markings of
an absolute, grade-A, 100% summer festival anthem. Full of hope, fear,
optimism, dreams and nostalgia, ‘We Will Run’ evokes that emotion attached to
running away from everything that’s dragging you down or holding you back and
puts it to chugging, Weezer-esque guitars before slapping on a huge chorus full
of sing-alongable “Whoa-whoa-whoas” and the key line; “I’ll do whatever it
takes to get back to you”. Feel good hit of the summer and then some.
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| The Nectars |
‘I Want It’ has all the snarl and
attitude of Suzi Quatro’s bratty little sister with the opening lines of, “You’re
telling me to wait, but I don’t want to wait. You’re telling me to wait, you can
fucking wait”. Kenny’s voice is versatile enough to switch from angry to soft
sweetness to aggression to a siren call and it leaves you confused and exhilarated
while that bass hammers away at your rib cage, relentlessly (played by bassist
Jon Paul by the way, a name that was surely meant to play the bass). The rockabilly
riff of ‘Don’t Panic’ is an instant earworm and once we get past the spoken
word public safety announcement we get to witness the excellent guitar work of
Michael Baron playing like he’s auditioning for the B52s and he wants to melt
their faces along the way.
There’s yet more outstanding bass
on ‘Lights Off’ which feels more poppy than the other tracks and could sit on
the MTV playlist in between the likes of Katy Perry, Years & Years and the
Weeknd with that funky bassline and sweet, assured vocal coming to the fore
once again. ‘Tame’ rattles over the twilight horizon with the hum and rhythm of
a Harley and all you can do is wait for the chorus to hit you around the face
which it does with Queens of the Stone Age power and if there isn’t some crowd
surfing going on by now then you’re probably at the wrong show. The album
closes out with ‘Tired’ which feels like it might be the first song the band
wrote together and they are emotionally attached to the urgent, intense
garage-punk that barely gives you time to draw breath in it’s one minute and
forty-eight second life span.
So that’s 9 tracks, 21 minutes of
music and a new favourite band all done and dusted. Admittedly, they’re going
to have to learn a couple of covers to beef out the live set (I recommend ‘Missionary
Man’ by the Eurythmics) but you’re going to know you’ve experienced something
special when you stumble blinking and sweat drenched in to the night air. The trick
that the Nectars have pulled here, and it’s a clever one is this; the Nectars
are the band that all guys want to be in and all the girls want to be with…. the
Nectars are also the band that all the girls want to be in and all the guys
want to be with. A band for the 21st Century with something for
everyone and no time to waste? Yeah, I’ll put my flag on that one.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/thenectarsmusic/
Live Dates:
16th May – House of
Vans, London
17th May – The Great
Escape, London
18th May – Muni Arts
Centre, Pontypridd (Sold Out)
19th May – O2 Academy,
Birmingham (Sold Out)
21st May – The Bedford,
London (acoustic show)
23rd May – The Monarch,
London
25th May – Dot-to-Dot
Festival, Nottingham
26th May – Dot-to-Dot
Festival, Bristol
27th May – Dot-to-Dot
Festival, Manchester