New York always comes up with the goods, be it The Velvets, or Blondie, or, now, the melodious, uplifting, punk tinged power pop of Nightmare of You. The chimes of glee cut through this seven inches of vinyl like the proverbial hot knife through cold dope and do their best to leave the listener gushing with joy and begging for more. If this is a taster, a teaser for the yet to be released eponymous album then the job is being done admirably. This guitar loving indie die hard was left a jibbering wreck after just one listen, and as the needle was flicked back one and a quarter inches to re-start the fun I really did wonder when was the last time that music was, quite simply this glorious.

If the perfect single is three minutes of thrilling, exhilarating, breath taking, chiming, harmonising, tantalising, roller coastering, melody and chime, well then, these boys have got there, crossed the line and may well be gazing back at us from somewhere in the distance. It’s a long time since something has sounded so fresh, so invigorating, so, simply exciting and left me wanting so much, so soon. It’s such a simple formula but it does it’s job so well, The Days Go By Oh So Slow ricochets through its life span affirming life, bathed in glorious, uplifting positivity, it dances on the reputation of all those gloom merchants who think that just because life is crap you need to drag everyone else down with you. This is a record seeped in desperation, but you wouldn’t now it from the manic riffing, the pounding rhythms and the delightful piano runs – all that, colliding with the yelps of relief and the Talulah Gosh-esque backing vocals makes for the moist perfect record of the year thus far.

There's not much around that’s this essential, in the dark evenings slip on this record and remind yourself of summer, ‘cos it’s coming you know, and you’d better be ready to smile.

Johnny Mac

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