THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Out Of True, the shock comeback album by the Nightingales, was originally released more than a decade after Robert Lloyd's strange major label foray. Now getting the recognition the band deserve, following the critical success of The Nightingales documentary King Rocker (Stewart Lee), this 2006 comeback record is available on vinyl for the very first time. Spread across two LPs, with over an hour of banging tunes, this is an essential piece of the bandís history and is packaged with liner notes from Robert Lloyd and a bonus download of the "What's Not To Love" EP.

Revisiting a press release for the Nightingales' last album, Four Against Fate, we recalled hesitant anticipation for the forthcoming King Rocker, a film documentary of Robert Lloyd and Nightingales, made by Michael Cumming and Stewart Lee. After forty years of activity, Robert and the band had seen hyped recordings go lost, scant commercial success. Royalties? Ha. Yet response to King Rocker was immediately positive. Fab reviews galore, a long process regaining master rights which led to a series of expanded reissues with Fire. A tour postponed three times finally took place, to fully-packed houses. It was a very good year. The band felt a degree of anxiety prior to the sessions, which took place at Valencia's Elefante Studios. With bassist Andi Schmid isolated during Covid, the band had yet begun working out individual rough sketches, typically battered into songs over a period of months. They went into a new studio blind, with a new producer, Jorge Bernabe, without rehearsals . . . and produced a top-to-bottom masterpiece.

Thirty seconds in, "Sunlit Uplands", is already a classic showcasing Fliss Kitson's increased songwriting power and the core dichotomy of the groups's best songs: perverse as fuck, catchy as fuck. i <3 CCTV is highlighted by a fab Jim Smith astral-garage guitar riff . . . and that's a one-two punch few albums ever equal, let alone carry over to the affectionate "Frances Sokolov", Robert's ode to mentor Vi Subversa, the playground riff that underlines "Spread Yourself Out" and then "Bloody Breath", the best encapsulation of all the band's genius in developing a kind of "pop" that no other combo has ever cracked. Other highlights include the lopsided mysterious beauty of "Magical Left Foot", the courtly raver of "I Need The Money At The Time" with a wonderful motorik groove driven by bassist Andi Schmid, and the album closer, "My Sweet Friend", a rockabilly lullaby which sounds like a magical outtake from Robert's one and only solo album It's a corker, it's a marvel, it's the best Nightingales record to date. Try and deny it. 

TRACK LISTING

Sunlight Uplands (turn That Frown Upside Down)
I <3 Cctv
Frances Sokolov
Spread Yourself Out
Bloody Breath
Mind Of Stone
I Needed The Money At The Time
The Very Nature
Magical Left Foot
Mark Meets No Mark
My Sweet Friend

The Nightingales' last original full-length for two decades stands as the final masterpiece postpunk album released before the C86 era. Back on vinyl for the first time in over 3 decades, the reissue is updated to include the whole of the 1985's 7" single "It's A Cracker" and "What A Carry On" 12" EP, plus a clutch of rare tracks never before released on vinyl and a bit of history from Robert Lloyd.

Despondently anti-Thatcher and with an air of hopelessness, In The Good Old Country Way has the sense that time was allowed for experimentation and reflection during its creation. Expectations were high as The Nightingales released their sole Vindaloo album and possibly the most underrated album of the postpunk era.

The opening number is heavy on the hoedown, not unlike records their pals The Mekons would release around the same time - a rootsy underlayment to songs of wit, energy and observation, adaptable both to lengthy groove-based observation and high-octane rants alike. Maria Smith's violin weaves in and out of songs, while the rhythm section of Pete Jenner (bass) and Ron Collins (drums) hold what might have been a disjointed mess, but it's multi-instrumentalist / arranger Pete Byrchmore who shares the spotlight with Lloyd.

"It's A Cracker" stuns, not stylistically dissimilar to their recent records for the first ninety seconds, though featuring a bridge hinting at new developments in their sound which could be heard on the next Nightingales release, ‘What A Carry On’. A sublime record, it features the powerful title track in two version, one of the band's best songs, "Comfort And Joy", and the tenderly alienating "First My Job".

"Lloyd's cracked it. A fucking good album." Mark E. Smith, The Fall.

TRACK LISTING

A1 The Headache Collector
A2 Down In The Dumps
A3 Leave It Out
A4 Comfort And Joy
A5 Coincidence
B1 I Spit In Your Gravy
B2 Square Circle
B3 Part Time Moral England
B4 How To Age
B5 No Can Do
C1 It's A Cracker
C2 Here We Go Now
C3 What A Carry On
C4 Carry On Carrying On
C5 Comfort And Joy (ep Version)
D1 First My Job
D2 Let's Surf
D3 Crafty Fag (live)
D4 Down In The Dumps (version 2)
D5 At The End Of The Day

Robert Lloyd is unique in 'punk' as someone who began his career at the start of the era, never fell prey to cliché or temptations of mass stardom, actually still works and now, in 2022, stands at his artistic and commercial peak . . . not that Robert's saying any of that, but does it matter? His status is due to a number of factors: a gambler's luck, backing by the finest version of Nightingales yet assembled, his faultless wry humour and wit, a difficult but unimpeachably excellent body of work, and the fortuitous timing of 2021's Robert Lloyd documentary, King Rocker. The release of film seems cunningly planned, with its roll-out brilliantly plotted, although it was actually the Covid epidemic which caused the cancellation of this film's scheduled theatrical screenings.

Rather than postpone, Fire Films' James Nicholls made the unusual choice of making a deal to release the film through Sky TV, where it was an immediate success and has been shown many times since. The audience, captive at home by way of the epidemic, was far larger than hoped, and as a result, The Nightingales have emerged as one of this era's most brilliant, unorthodox and genuine bands of the post-punk. Three planned tours for the band's last album, were Covid-cancelled before a fourth attempt succeeded. With bassist Andi Schmid stuck in Germany and unable to record, the band asked three of their fans to remix tracks from Four Against Fate.

The titles - let alone the radically alterations hereon - give no clue to which tracks were remixed. Contributing their massive talents are DJ Surgeon, whose stint as an opener for Lady Gaga push the band ever closer to the charts (err, not likely, but the tune is brilliant!), The Go! Team's Ian Parton, who'd posted of his affection for the band and remains a figure of fascination, being a good dollop more talented than other young upstarts, and Randy Kuntz, whose devilish musical skills have added serious sizzle to the last few Nightingales records. As Nightingales toil on new projects, initial plans for The New Nonsense could not be realised. Worldwide vinyl pressing delays made delivery before last year's tour impossible. The project seemed destined for collector status from the start - we pressed too few copies, Robert though it would be 'novel' to set the back sleeve ninety degrees off from the front sleeve, Four Against Fate is now nearly two years old, and the creative efforts of the band did not slow during lockdown

Comedian Stewart Lee and director Michael Cumming (Brass Eye, Toast Of London) investigate a missing piece of punk history. Robert Lloyd, best known for fronting cult Birmingham bands The Prefects and The Nightingales, has survived under the radar for over four decades. But how, if at all, does Robert want to be remembered? The anti-rockumentary ‘King Rocker’ weaves the story of Birmingham’s undervalued underdog autodidact into that of the city’s forgotten public sculpture of King Kong, eschewing the celebrity interview and archive-raid approach for a free-associating bricolage of Indian food, bewildered chefs, vegetable gardening, prescription medicines, pop stardom and pop art. All of the highlights from the film are here, along with rarities which won’t appear on any of the deluxe reissues of the Nightingales’ catalogue, among them 7″ versions of “Use Your Loaf”, the Bob Luman hit “Let’s Think About Living” and “Black Country”, a glam remix of crowd favourite “Thick And Thin” and a version of Christy & Emily’s “Ghost” which rivals the Nightingales’ take on TLC’s “Unpretty” for sheer beauty. The only act with roots in the punk era that have gone on to make records more captivating, cutting and entertaining today than at any point in their past; 2022 will be a busy year for the Nightingales, with months of live dates planned, a limited edition remix 12″, deluxe reissues of both ‘Hysterics’ and ‘In The Good Old Country Way’, and a hardcover book collecting Robert’s lyrics.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A selection of brilliant Nightingales rarities and pieces from the film of the same name, written about Robert Lloyd of The Nightingales and The Prefects. A wonderful audio document in it's own right, and a perfect companion to a very funny film.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Use Your Loaf (7” Version)
A2 Surplus And Scarcity (Live)
A3 What A Carry On
A4 Let's Think About Living (7” Version)
A5 Black Country (7” Version)
A6 Ghost
B1 Born Again In Birmingham
B2 Overreactor
B3 Thick And Thin (Glam Version)
B4 Chaff
B5 The Desperate Quartet
B6 Gales Doc

The first vinyl pressing since 1983 on double blue vinyl with new liner notes. Ripe for rediscovery the sought-after and much acclaimed debut album from seminal Birmingham post punk revolutionaries The Nightingales. This newly expanded ‘Pigs On Purpose’ is remastered by Stuart Moxham with the addition of early demos and non-album singles from this period. The reissue coincides with new ‘King Rocker’ documentary celebrating the life of lead singer Robert Lloyd – a film by Michael Cumming (Brass Eye, Toast Of London), comedian Stewart Lee and James Nicholls (Fire Films, Fire Records).

An early punk classic, The Nightingales' debut was a strange transmission released as the musical landscape was changing. They were the last important band with roots in the first blossoming of punk and became a major influence upon the explosion of mid-80s indie labels and associated bands.

“A perfect example of out-of-sync genius” AllMusic

“Robert Lloyd's deadpan, elegantly hilarious lyrics make Sistine Chapel shapes of mundane provincial minutiae.” The Times

“When it comes to outsider artists, Robert Lloyd is the living embodiment of the term.” Record Collector

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1

1 Blood For Dirt
2 Start From Scratch
3 One Mistake
4 Well Done Underdog
5 The Crunch
6 The Hedonists Sigh
7 It Lives Again

SIDE 2

8 Make Good
9 Don't Blink
10 Joking Apart
11 Yeah, It's Okay
12 Use Your Loaf
13 Blisters

SIDE 3

14 Bristol Road Leads To Dachau (demo)
15 Hark My Love (demo)
16 Nowhere To Return (demo)
17 Blisters (demo)
18 Idiot Strength
19 Seconds

SIDE 4

20 The Crunch (demo)
21 The Hedonists Sigh (demo)
22 Inside Out
23 Under The Lash
24 Paraffin Brain
25 Elvis, The Last Ten Days

Bonus Tracks On DL Only

1 My Brilliant Career (live)
2 Which Hi-Fi? (live)
3 Paraffin Brain (live)
4 Use Your Loaf (live)