The Sheffield Scenester

Nerves, a Sheffield based four piece alternative rock band, or to be more specific, a four piece exponent of shoegazing! This is a genre which came to prominence in the late 80’s and early 90’s with bands such as My Bloody Valentine and The Smashing Pumpkins. Creating this sound generally revolves around a lot of experimentation and effects created for the guitar via the foot pedals, hence when playing the musicians seem to be staring at the floor whilst performing, therefore ‘Shoegazing!’

So with this in mind, the first track, ‘Seams’ begins to pulse through my head. As if lost in some kind of dreamscape, this song practically reverberates around the room, almost ominous in its existence. Nicky Hamer’s vocals are delivered toneless, with an air of complete indifference, occasionally mumbled but always drawing you in until he blows you away with a blood curdling chorus rant. Beneath this they may only have two guitarists, but you get the sensation of an onslaught as multiple pitches, hooks and riffs are thrown into this disturbingly hypnotic concoction.

The second track, ‘Running Scared’, follows this with the same doom laden themes, but intensified with a much more epic introduction. The vocals don’t kick in until about a minute and a half into the song so Nicky is given more room for manoeuvre with his singing and despite the fact that this time it comes through almost crystal clear, he still retains his right to communicate with what sounds like drug induced ramblings. In a strange hauntingly way I am reminded of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, I can imagine Nicky’s bloodshot eyes pleading to stop this twisted nightmare that he sounds so desperate to escape from!

‘Write Letters’, the third track opens with a very subtle guitar picking away but this is soon drowned out in a wave of distorted bedlam. This effect is then, not so much looped throughout, but, it is safe to say this is a prime example of ‘the calm before the storm’ school of musical composition. Yet again the guitars come across as a truly annihilating force to be reckoned with, that coupled with the audio barrage from both bass and drums make this a track that needs to played at full volume – trust me it works!!

The ultimate track on this EP is ‘Wake Up Italy’, a complete contrast to everything that has gone before, in fact they’ve stripped away the savage turmoil of all those guitars and gone are the thundering beasts of bass and drums altogether. All we are left with is a hauntingly beautiful tune; it’s rather like finding a child’s music box in the middle of an apocalyptic wasteland! Whilst it is not exactly delicate, for it still retains a slightly dis-chorded melody, you can still let it wrap around you without feeling too uncomfortable. There is a video for this on YouTube which is just a single shot of a clown eating a meal in a confined corner of a room, whether this is to explain in anyway what is happening it’s hard to say, to me it’s just creepy, for it looks like the last meal of a condemned man!

So a very fascinating EP from a band that are definitely not afraid to go against the grain, I particularly loved the final track, but if you want to see them play live then they are due at The Harley on 8th November and Bungalows And Bears on November 29th, they could be one hell of a show!