Nightmare of You - S/T

Nightmare of You
s/t
The Bevonshire Label/East West
Grade: A-

Two details need to be pronounced up front about Nightmare Of You. First, this is their debut record and it will elevate your pop loving ears to new extremes, while appealing to the whole family. Second, the members of Nightmare Of You are nowhere near newbies to the game of music, but their background may surprise you. Up front is guitarist Brandon Reilly who spent much of his music career ripping guitar for the Movielife and subsequently really began the Nightmare Of You uptick after their breakup. Reilly is joined by Joseph McCaffrey and Sammy Siegler (known for his efforts in Rival Schools, CIV and the Gorilla Biscuits). Little of this information would give you any idea of the music of Nightmare Of You. While there is movement between sound contextures, the core element is an affinity towards pop and melody-laden lyrics. This becomes immediately evident on the opener “The Days Go By Oh So Slow,” which speaks to a slight new wave feel, but carries itself. The follower “Dear Scene, I Wish I Were Deaf” knocks the trendy pop up a notch and the downstroking guitars partially parallel the Strokes. After the off “Thumbelina” comes one of the best tracks “My Name is Trouble,” where the band follows an electronic pulse and is full of catchiness on the chorus. With a solid video, “My Name is Trouble” may become a ‘hit’ song of the fall. “Why Am I Was Right” is strangely like the Aquabats and “I Want to be Buried in Your Backyard” is without doubt modern rock – somewhere in the vein of Morrissey. And uncommon “I Want to be Buried in Your Backyard” is a rather appealing number. Reilly shakes the darkness with the appropriately named and uptempo “Ode to Serotonin.” To add their musical range, Nightmare Of You adds steel guitar to “Marry Me” in slowed down number that is reminiscent of a less whining Good Life track. Electronics come back on “In the Bathroom is Where I Want You,” while “The Studded Cinctures” is enhanced pop punk and is a song that is close to awesome but is just missing a crucial latent piece. The self-titled debut ends on the strange “Heaven Runs on Oil” where Nightmare of You follow a haunting beat and atmosphere and Reilly provides some crooner magic that cumulates on a phenomenal chorus. As much as I was disappointed by the collapse of the Movielife, if Nightmare Of You was the result then it was more than worth the destruction.