album of the week: 10.5

The Nighty Nite

Dimples

(2011)

why you'll love it: The Paper Chase returns

why you'll hate it: still a one-trick pony sound that some may find corny

I've been saving this one for a few months just for today. The Nighty Nite is the reanimated corpse of the now-defunct Kill Rock Stars horror rock band, The Paper Chase. Frontman of both bands, John Congleton admits "I only know how to write one kind of song", so this Is basically more of The Paper Chase.

Just like The Paper Chase, simplifying the kind of songs John Congleton writes into a snappy phrase like "horror rock" does not do justice. The songs aren't as hackneyed as one might assume. There is a very cool dirty distorted Drive Like Jehu style of rock. The production is sharp and layered. Congleton's style isn't trick or treating, zombies, and plastic bats. It's Jonestown, and The Overlook Hotel.

Being only a 4-song EP, there isn't a whole lot of depth to this. I'd even bet money that John had written these songs with The Paper Chase. This is just a statement of "not dead yet!" The individual songs are good, except for the closer, "Meaningless", which just comes off to me as too catchy and simple. Congleton's songs play out better when discordant and building up to a sledgehammer smash, just like "In My Hospital Gown". "Dimes in Their Dimples" is a thunderous opening, with some great supportive instruments going on. "This Silly Bag" feels more like an extended interlude, but with the best line on the EP - "Do you think about my body? Cause I don't think about your soul."

If you're sick of "The Monster Mash" passing as applicable Halloween music, check this out tonight. Also, listen to The Paper Chase, because the lack of attention they got is more tragic than any of their songs.