Catchiest songs of the year? These are certainly up there with the best of them!
The trials and tribulations of life have inspired many a great record, and ‘The Day Job Gets in The Way’ is a case in point. It’s the sixth album from Leeds trio Nervous Twitch, who combine the urgency of first-wave punk with jangly power-pop melodies that wouldn’t sound out of place on a C86 compilation. They’re doing more or less what they’ve always done, true, but they’re doing it very well.
As ever, their strength is the way they mix often world-weary and jaded-sounding lyrics with music that absolutely overflows with vitality. Vocalist/bassist Erin certainly doesn’t sound impressed as she takes aim at work obligations (the title track) and people who wrongly think themselves to be hilarious (‘Funny Bones’), but the way those guitars fizz and crackle…ooh, it doesn’t half make you feel alive.
It’s hard to pick favourites from such a strong set of songs, but ultimately we’d have to go for the duo of ‘Knitting With Anger’, with its glorious 60s girl-group vibes, and the highly danceable pop-punk rush of ‘Love 4 Me 2’. Elsewhere, ‘Rolling With The Punches’ is powered by a highly addictive riff, and the slower ‘The Man With His Head In The Sand’ comes drenched in guitar fuzz, sounding all the better for it.
We’ve probably listened to ‘The Day Job Gets In The Way’ about eight times over already, and each time it sounds even better than before. Goodness knows it’s good enough to really make things happen for Nervous Twitch, and goodness knows they deserve it. They’re a hard-touring bunch, and these songs will probably sound even better live, so…you know what to do.
All Photos: ANDICHRIST
- Don’t Get In Touch
- Game You’re Playing
- The Day Job Gets In The Way
- Knitting With Anger
- Love 4 Me 2
- Funny Bones
- Some People Have It All
- My Mum’s An Anarchist
- Rolling With The Punches
- You Really Let Me Down
- The Man With His Head In The Sand
- Alright John
- Minor Characters
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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