Of all of the bird kingdom, the nightjar has a reputation as being one of the darkest and most mysterious found around the world, thanks in part to them being nocturnal and a false assumption from the middle ages that they fed by sucking the blood from goats. Sinister stuff. So while you might expect a band called The Nightingales or Albatross to display a certain bright beauty or elegance to their music, one named The Night Jars should be dealing in something with perhaps a more threatening or foreboding sound. As we found with previous single 'Drones', that's not a bad description of the London quintet. That was back in the summer, but to end the year, and in its shortest, darkest days, they're releasing the new EP 'Daka', song by song, starting with 'Maya' which you can hear first either here or on their website.
The first thing that strikes you is what a great leap forward this track is. With a single, doom-laden bass note and then a flurry of electronics that sound not unlike something from a Sonic Boom record, the track is upon us, showing a fuller, bigger, and better sound than before. The lyrics are chanted at you with an urgency that implies that lives depend on getting the message across. There's a terror encapsulated in this style, while the music is at the psychedelic edge of post-punk and is sharp and also slightly harrowing, as that opening gives way to dual guitars that both chime and buzz, giving a clarity and a richness at the same time. The beat is totally insistent, almost to the point where it becomes a four-to-the-floor disco-punk groove, underpinned by the reverberating bass. The Night Jars have obviously spent the last few months getting themselves a great deal better. Check back for other tracks from the EP soon, we're lucky enough to be given first dibs on a release that shows an exciting group emerging.
The Night Jars' website
Buy the single
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