The Nightingales The New Nonsense

Robert Lloyd is unique in 'punk' as someone who began his career at the start of the era, never fell prey to cliché or temptations of mass stardom, actually still works and now, in 2022, stands at his artistic and commercial peak . . . not that Robert's saying any of that, but does it matter? His status is due to a number of factors: a gambler's luck, backing by the finest version of Nightingales yet assembled, his faultless wry humour and wit, a difficult but unimpeachably excellent body of work, and the fortuitous timing of 2021's Robert Lloyd documentary, King Rocker. The release of film seems cunningly planned, with its roll-out brilliantly plotted, although it was actually the Covid epidemic which caused the cancellation of this film's scheduled theatrical screenings. Rather than postpone, Fire Films' James Nicholls made the unusual choice of making a deal to release the film through Sky TV, where it was an immediate success and has been shown many times since. The audience, captive at home by way of the epidemic, was far larger than hoped, and as a result, The Nightingales have emerged as one of this era's most brilliant, unorthodox and genuine bands of the post-punk. Three planned tours for the band's last album, were Covid-cancelled before a fourth attempt succeeded. With bassist Andi Schmid stuck in Germany and unable to record, the band asked three of their fans to remix tracks from Four Against Fate. The titles - let alone the radically alterations hereon - give no clue to which tracks were remixed. Contributing their massive talents are DJ Surgeon, whose stint as an opener for Lady Gaga push the band ever closer to the charts (err, not likely, but the tune is brilliant!), The Go! Team's Ian Parton, who'd posted of his affection for the band and remains a figure of fascination, being a good dollop more talented than other young upstarts, and Randy Kuntz, whose devilish musical skills have added serious sizzle to the last few Nightingales records. As Nightingales toil on new projects, initial plans for The New Nonsense could not be realised. Worldwide vinyl pressing delays made delivery before last year's tour impossible. The project seemed destined for collector status from the start - we pressed too few copies, Robert though it would be 'novel' to set the back sleeve ninety degrees off from the front sleeve, Four Against Fate is now nearly two years old, and the creative efforts of the band did not slow during lockdown.