Ryan's Gig Guide - September 2018

drink or chatter – was unexpected, and public awakening to their humour, skill and brilliance will ultimately demand revi- sion of post-punk history.The Nightin- gales have emerged as the industrious ant to their peers’ workshy grasshopper per- sonae, appearing victoriously at the finish line to puzzled realisations that they’d ever even been in the race. The Nightingales have notoriously had a new label for each new album, a fact which might reasonably call for consumer caution, but they don’t fit in with anything like a scene, they speak their own musical language, and while they bust out slogans about being “slightly superior to others of their ilk” . . . the fact is, they have no ilk. One label head proudly claims his ra- tionale for the release of one of their al- bums as “a public service.” Some of The Nightingales’ historic lack of acclaim stems from a density of ideas, which the band see no need to mine for profit.Album closer It Is milks Sister Ray dissonance over a Krautrock groove, with Robert’s vocals calling to mind the last gasps of a drowning man while Fliss turns the tune on its head with voice  Tuesday 2nd October Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath  www.ryansgigguide.com rgg Sep 2018 7