LES VALENTINE

For the more myopic and literal discoverers of metal, stop reading now (Type O Negative fans can at least revel in the cover artwork). Everyone else who is left can find themselves a lounge chair and be joyous to hear that Les Valentine's single 'Nervous' is in fact a very warm and upbeat slice of American-influenced indie/rock. Expanding the sound-alikes listed on the press sheet, I hear quite a lot in common with early works by The Connells and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Colormusic. Jangly feel good music for those enough in the know to understand that major label indie, is in fact not only oxymoronic but also quite dreadful. The song in question (for that is all I have here to review) starts gently with some lilting guitar work interspersed with piano flourishes. Indeed, the only instrument that feels out of place and unnecessary is the wind instrument (forgive the lack of knowledge here; it could be a sax, but I really don't know). It's not grating to the point of being unlistenable, but it doesn't appear to add anything to the song itself, and could quite easily have been omitted. Vocally, there's nothing to distinguish this from the aforementioned American acts, or indeed so much of British indie (again ignoring the provincial accents of chart indie). However, the vocals suit the music perfectly, and any quirky inflections may have actually harmed the song, so no point worrying about it too much. So, without much more to really focus upon, I can confirm that if you like your music to lift your soul and prepare you for a night out on the town, you could do much worse than adding 'Nervous' to your pre-session routine.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Crash Records

Single

NERVOUS

Review by Steve Cowan

RUNNING TIME:

3:13

RELEASE DATE:

29th Sept 2008

TRACK LISTING

1) Nervous

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"...a very warm and upbeat slice of American-influenced indie/rock."