-=- SHGZ -=- * Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal * ARTIST..: Nightmare Air ALBUM...: High In The Lasers GENRE...: Indie STYLE...: Shoegaze, Alternative Rock YEAR....: 2013 LABEL...: Vinyl Junkie ENCODER.: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 TRACKS..: 12 BITRATE.: 267 kbps avg SOURCE..: CD QUALITY.: 44.1kHz/Stereo SIZE....: 106.51 MB URL..: http://www.facebook.com/nightmareairmusic/ - TRACKLIST 1 Escape 4:22 2 Icy Daggers 4:31 3 18 Days 4:22 4 Sweet Messy Riff 5:11 5 Brightest Diamond 3:23 6 Sun Behind The Rocks 7:31 7 Eyes 4:33 8 Silver Light 5:36 9 Wolf In The Wood 4:26 10 Shock Of The New (Japan Bonus Track) 3:41 11 Goodbye (Japan Bonus Track) 3:44 12 Escape Remix (Toby Butler/ The Duke 3:59 Spirit) (Japan Bonus Track) Total Playtime: 55:19 Named after a skateboard move from an 80's skate film, Los Angeles band NIGHTMARE AIR emphasizes sonic momentum, during both live performances and in the studio. Nightmare Air's Dave Dupuis, a veteran of L.A. shoegazers Film School (Beggars Banquet Records), and Swaan Miller, whose stark acoustic album on Important Records melted hearts and faces everywhere, meticulously layer boy-girl harmonies, pulsing pop synths, psych noise loops and glam soaked walls of guitars. Add to that Detroit heavy hitter Jimmy Lucido on the drums (The Strays/ TVT records) in their combined years of touring, these road veterans have supported heavyweights from Smashing Pumpkins to the The Jesus and Mary Chain. Headlining clubs and playing festivals around the world Nightmare Air have shared stages with The Kills, The Dandy Warhols, Teenage Fanclub, Cat Power, The Black Lips, The Soft Moon, No Age, The Wedding Present, The Buzzcocks, Ringo Deathstarr, Fishbone, The Cult and many more. In support of 2013 debut release "High in the Lasers" the band held court in venues across the globe with energetic massive sound walls, captivating lights, and ethereal vocals. All of which landed the group critical success such as featured new artist in Filter and Under the Radar magazine, album of the month in ArtRocker Magazine UK: In 2016 the band won an international songwriting competition and were flown to Ireland to record their sophomore album at world famous Grouse Lodge Studios (Muse, Snow Patrol, Michael Jackson). Wild = Yes. While finishing that record Nightmare Air didn't sit still playing select shows and festivals in the US such as SXSW and Starry Nights Festival sharing the stage with The Kills, Black Mountain, Cat Power as well as a noteworthy and successful summer residency at home in LA at The Satellite presented in full by KROQ as well getting the lead track for the upcoming record "Who's Your Lover" on the video game RockBand. 2018 now finds the band releasing their second studio album "Fade Out" on Nevado Music and embarking on a UK/Euro tour supporting musical legend Gary Numan! Hold on tight, the future is bright. * It can be a tricky job to review the familiar, and anyone who has come into contact with Nightmare Air, guitarist Dave Dupuis, or his previous band Film School, over the past few years will know that a couple of the tunes on High In The Lasers have been around for a while. However, the task is made easier by the mix of the familiar and new, the quality of sound and how close it is to what the band achieves live, when they are right on the money. Nothing shows the contribution that a musician makes to a band like having them transplanted to another. There is a lot here that is reminiscent of Film School, underlining Dave Dupuis' contribution to that outfit over their last two albums, but there is also a lot more. Nightmare Air seem to have been a parallel project leading up to the moth-balling of Film School so the temptation may have been to just keep going with more of the same, but there's no rehashing of old stuff with 18 Days the only survivor from their 2010 debut EP, (also managing to appear as the b-side of their Escape single last year!). Rising above the familiar layers of sound the vocals are shared between Dave and bass player Swaan Miller, swapping the lead in what becomes almost a call and response feature, her ethereal almost child- like tones jarring against his piercing falsetto. Underneath Jimmy Lucido's muscular approach keeps the drums whirling away as the band walks the line between shoe gaze and indie rock ' n roll without really settling in one place. Each track is layered with effects distortions and loops that bring to mind the Starship Enterprise console that makes up Dave's barrage of pedals on stage. However this is not just some technical narcissism but a collection of proper songs that attracted heavyweights like Howie Weinberg ( Nirvana, Sonic Youth) and Dave Shiffman (The Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails, BRMC) into the studio to master and mix the tunes. Scott McDonald from Surfing On Steam dubbed Nightmare Air " possibly LA's loudest band". When they appeared at the "Edge ofà " festivals last summer in the UK in Brighton and Holmfirth I could get where he was coming from. Anyone who has seen any of the stream of west coast bands that rock up to blast various Birmingham venues will know that this is no mean accolade. Some of the smaller venues at this year's SxSW, underway this week, will be in for the same surprise as the band promote the new material. If anything the great thing about this album, particularly in songs like 18 days and Brightest Diamond, is that along with all the volume and power that the band gives live you get the hear the nuances and the skill behind those loops and effects. If I have one criticism it is that there isn't enough of the album; the nine tracks fly by. However they do leave the best until last with Wolf In The Woods, for my money the outstanding track. -=- SHGZ -=- P.S. ** Thanks *** *** BCC FNT IPC SSR *** *** For Knowing Where The Music Is At *** --===-- ********************* * NuHS we miss you! * *********************