Nervous Twitch – Alright Lads (Reckless Yes)
Leeds-base surf rock, synth pop three-piece Nervous Twitch release their latest single Alright Lads on Reckless Yes ahead of self-titled fourth album out this week.
Artist: Nervous Twitch
Track: Alright Lads
Label: Reckless Yes
Released: 15 January 2021
Find it: Bandcamp | Spotify
In the darkened room your feet make a tearing sound as you shuffle even slightly from the sticky floor. Between the tall silhouettes in front of you glimpses of the lit stage appear, their chatter raised above the background rumble of alt-rock classics through tired house speakers. You’re shoulder jostled and swerve the spill from pint glasses held aloft by someone crab-walking and sliding forward through the gathered crowd.
And then the band take the stage and you’re somewhere else. The bumps of the crowd are electric touches of togetherness, the suction-dirt-floor the only thing keeping you tethered as the music lifts you, fills you, runs through you for days afterwards.
It’s to The Gig which Nervous Twitch transport us on recent single Alright Lads, with a wry and knowing reference to the cornering by a know-it-all most bands will know. With in-depth questions about your set-up and an uninvited probe into your provenance the merch-desk-leaning, break-down-crowding buzz-killers who are firmly in the targets here.
Do you know, know, know, know it all / No, my girlfriend she don’t like it / No, my girlfriend she don’t like it / No, my girlfriend she don’t like it when I stay out late
Unashamedly pop the track is packed with catchy lyrics which you long to sing back at the band from somewhere within a slightly-sweaty crowd, a swoop and soar to the melody and a subtle drive to the rhythm which you almost don’t realise is behind the quickening of your own heartbeat. It’s got that retro feel, with a modern bite, which the band do so well and, like their other singles, they keep the blast short and direct at just over the 2 minute mark.
It’s been so long since any of us (here in the UK anyway) went to a gig we’d probably welcome all the things which made us prickly when we could head out any night of our choosing we’d probably all quite welcome an approach from a band-chatter. To be back in the arms of live music our heart would lift and our embraces open at the first herald of ‘alright lads…’, the condensation-damp-walls a masterpiece in the low-light. We all long for that connection, that conversation, that shared moment with a stranger, and that adds a level of bittersweetness to this single which couldn’t have been planned but makes it somehow…more.
Following on from previous singles Keeping Faith In Something and Tongue Tied the track is the final one to be revealed before the band’s fourth album drops later this week. With a highly recognisable sound drawing on influences from the Cramps, to the Ramones, to the Ronettes, the band has showcased across the 3 tracks just what a range they can find while staying cohesive, and that making music fun doesn’t have to come at the expense of authenticity and style.
Alright Lads from Nervous Twitch is out now on digital platforms. The self-titled fourth album follows on vinyl, CD, and digital on 29 January 2021 via Reckless Yes.
Find Nervous Twitch: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Bandcamp
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We took a hiatus at the end of 2020 but put together a list of our Top 40 albums from the year – check it out here.
Disclosure: Sarah Lay is editor of Popoptica and co-founder of Reckless Yes, so has some involvement in the release of this record – but she really does only write about or work on music she loves.
Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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