This is quite a record. Nightmarchers is a new band for John Reis. At first it seemed he was comfortable being very "DC" with his bands breaking up and reforming at a break neck pace, but on this record there is a little more frustration than usual evident in the lyrics. This really feels like a California record to me-from the cover art to the guitar sounds. Reis really steps out as a guitar player on this record-the funky Hendrix riffing on "Who's Lady RU?" for example. There is also a heavy Dirtbombs vibe on a few songs.
Plenty of songs maintain the RFTC standard for horny, teenage vampire lyrics and a few songs tread into painful rockabilly/cow punk territories, but the stand outs are the ones that break the mold. Better an inconsistent effort that is swinging for the fences than one that stays to close to the past.
"Jump in the Fire" and "You've got Nerve" are the standout tracks. Both are bitter yet hopeful melodic songs. I don't want to push the Cali analogy too far but it reminds me of the a disillusioned Dennis Wilson toiling away on a soon to be forgotten solo album(allright so the new Dennis Wilson rerelease hype has gotten to me)
Anyway. It's more straight ahead rock then the Hot Snakes, but it is not as consistently bombastic or over the top as RFTC.
13 songs on Vagrant records.
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