Customer Reviews

Nightfreak & The Sons of Becker

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

At least nobody can fault the Coral for lack of output. The Brit-rock band released "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" as a step between their last album and their new "Magic and Medicine." It lacks texture and dimension, but it's an entertaining little nugget of rough, raw rock.

A very blistery riff starts off the plodding "Precious Eyes." The rest of the album is predominantly very basic guitar rock like the catchy, raw "I Forgot My Name," the meandering "Sorrow or the Song," and the very ordinary "Keep Me Company." But there are also a few richer numbers like the slow, ominous "Song of the Corn," the spacey "Grey Harpoon," and the deliciously catchy "Venom Cable" with its reverberating organ.

Don't expect "The Coral" all over again, because that is not what you're going to get. "Nightfreak" is a lot less polished and musically deep, but it has a certain rough-hewn charm. More often than not, it's very basic guitar rock without a lot of complexity, augmented by little psychedelic flourishes like the zig-zag sound effects in "Grey Harpoon."

If the instrumentation is rough, at least it has some variety -- hollow drumming, psychedelic swashes, unpolished guitar riffs, with little additions like organs and surreal spoken interludes. The instrumentation is basically something that could be brilliant rock if it weren't lacking in dimension, needing more layers and more complexity.

The lyrics definitely leave something to be desired, with howls of "I can see THROUUUUGH YOOUUU!", and the poppy ditty: "Migraine - Doctor, doctor, tearing my hair out/Migraine - Doctor, doctor, what's it all about?" At least they sound like they are enjoying themselves -- the elated yowls and cheerfully muted vocals of "Lover's Parade" drip with barely-restrained enjoyment.

"Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" has the recognizable Coral sound, but it sounds like the guys simply put it out rather than polishing it into their more typical sound. Entertaining, but not terribly good. (Small note: "Nightfreak" can be found as part of "Magic & Medicine" in the US)

At least nobody can fault the Coral for lack of output. The Brit-rock band released "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" as a step between their last album and their new "Magic and Medicine." It lacks texture and dimension, but it's an entertaining little nugget of rough, raw rock.

A very blistery riff starts off the plodding "Precious Eyes." The rest of the album is predominantly very basic guitar rock like the catchy, raw "I Forgot My Name," the meandering "Sorrow or the Song," and the very ordinary "Keep Me Company." But there are also a few richer numbers like the slow, ominous "Song of the Corn," the spacey "Grey Harpoon," and the deliciously catchy "Venom Cable" with its reverberating organ.

Don't expect "The Coral" all over again, because that is not what you're going to get. "Nightfreak" is a lot less polished and musically deep, but it has a certain rough-hewn charm. More often than not, it's very basic guitar rock without a lot of complexity, augmented by little psychedelic flourishes like the zig-zag sound effects in "Grey Harpoon."

If the instrumentation is rough, at least it has some variety -- hollow drumming, psychedelic swashes, unpolished guitar riffs, with little additions like organs and surreal spoken interludes. The instrumentation is basically something that could be brilliant rock if it weren't lacking in dimension, needing more layers and more complexity.

The lyrics definitely leave something to be desired, with howls of "I can see THROUUUUGH YOOUUU!", and the poppy ditty: "Migraine - Doctor, doctor, tearing my hair out/Migraine - Doctor, doctor, what's it all about?" At least they sound like they are enjoying themselves -- the elated yowls and cheerfully muted vocals of "Lover's Parade" drip with barely-restrained enjoyment.

"Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" has the recognizable Coral sound, but it sounds like the guys simply put it out rather than polishing it into their more typical sound. Entertaining, but not terribly good. (Small note: "Nightfreak" can be found as part of "Magic & Medicine" in the US)

Not knowing that Nightfreak was going to be part of the US version of Magic and Medicine, I bought the import.

As far as the album is concerned, it's nowhere near as produced as the Debut or Magic and Medicine. If it had been, though...
A lot of different styles of music, so you don't get bored there. The best songs of the album are(in no order):Grey Harpoon, Venom Cable, Migraine, Precious Eyes, and Lovers Paradise. Grey Harpoon is great now, but if slightly more produced, it would awesome. Some songs however, just don't make it for me.(i.e. I Forgot my Name, and Auntie's OPeration). Overall not too bad. Can't wait for the next album!

At least nobody can fault the Coral for lack of output. The Brit-rock band released "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" as a step between their last album and their new "Magic and Medicine." It lacks texture and dimension, but it's an entertaining little nugget of rough, raw rock.

A very blistery riff starts off the plodding "Precious Eyes." The rest of the album is predominantly very basic guitar rock like the catchy, raw "I Forgot My Name," the meandering "Sorrow or the Song," and the very ordinary "Keep Me Company." But there are also a few richer numbers like the slow, ominous "Song of the Corn," the spacey "Grey Harpoon," and the deliciously catchy "Venom Cable" with its reverberating organ.

Don't expect "The Coral" all over again, because that is not what you're going to get. "Nightfreak" is a lot less polished and musically deep, but it has a certain rough-hewn charm. More often than not, it's very basic guitar rock without a lot of complexity, augmented by little psychedelic flourishes like the zig-zag sound effects in "Grey Harpoon."

If the instrumentation is rough, at least it has some variety -- hollow drumming, psychedelic swashes, unpolished guitar riffs, with little additions like organs and surreal spoken interludes. The instrumentation is basically something that could be brilliant rock if it weren't lacking in dimension, needing more layers and more complexity.

The lyrics definitely leave something to be desired, with howls of "I can see THROUUUUGH YOOUUU!", and the poppy ditty: "Migraine - Doctor, doctor, tearing my hair out/Migraine - Doctor, doctor, what's it all about?" At least they sound like they are enjoying themselves -- the elated yowls and cheerfully muted vocals of "Lover's Parade" drip with barely-restrained enjoyment.

"Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" has the recognizable Coral sound, but it sounds like the guys simply put it out rather than polishing it into their more typical sound. Entertaining, but not terribly good. (Small note: "Nightfreak" can be found as part of "Magic & Medicine" in the US)

How strange things can go sometimes... The Coral's second album "Magic & Medicine" was released in Europe last summer. As a stop-gap until the full-fledged third album comes out, the Coral released this "limited edition mini-album" in the UK in January, 2004. Meanwhile, "Magic & Medicine" was finally released in the US earlier this month, and it came with a bonus CD, you guessed it, this very "mini-album"!

"Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" (11 tracks, 28 min.) was recorded "live" in studio in a matter of a week. The sound is clearly "rougher" and less-produced than their earlier albums. But those songs!! The quality just oozes out! Musical styles are all over the place. From straight-on rock to reggae-flavored to Beatlesque pop to 80's punk, the Coral don't tie themselves down, and to great effect. Best songs include "Grey Harpoon", "Migraine", "Precious Eyes" and "Sorrow or the Song".

For obvious reasons, there really is no point buying this release separately when you can get it for free with the purchase of the US version of "Magic & Medicine. But "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" is a fine album on it own nevertheless!

Not wanting to damage sales, but I just thought if you are thinking of buying this import, you should know that it's an import of the British release, and as part of the American release, you get the exact same item as this, completely for free, when you buy Magic and Medicine by the Coral. So basically you can get this very exact item for free if you buy the American version of Magic and Medicine. No point buying this whatsoever.