NIGHTINGALES - Sentimental Hospital
The Nightingales, founded in 1991, are a five-piece from Finland that I have known for the last three years now. I know two songs from the Kioski compilations, and two years ago I had the opportunity to witness one of their dynamic live performances at the Pop Up Festival in Leipzig. When I received their new album Sentimental Hospital, I wondered if The Nightingales could amaze me as well on a full-length record. This is only their second album released outside their native Finland, with a first one in 2005 as a best-of from their four previous ones.
The album has an amazing start with Down Down Down, underlining from the beginning the band’s devotion to The Kinks. It’s a rather melancholic track with a cool saloon piano and a strong British flair. The album’s highlight is the title track with its funny subtitle Happy Alcoholics. The album takes a mellower turn with the two next songs. Thank You My Lord For Plastic reminds me of Always Late by Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Two more highlights are the Undertones-like Senators & Slaves and Hard Working Man.
Unfortunately, the album is partly running on the spot. Don’t You Think He Was A Great Poet Too doesn’t have any punch, Geek Boogie is a boogie that doesn’t fit on the album, Sparks is a short instrumental that doesn’t any nutritional values to the record and My Girl Loved Velvet Underground is an unexciting ballad.
Sentimental Hospital shows that The Nightingales are a better live band because on CD, the fun quickly becomes repetitive. There are of course some nice ideas in the songs, but it isn’t enough to entertain for forty minutes.