An indie rock four piece hailing from Manchester, The Nightjars wear their influences on their sleeves with debut long player TOWARDS LIGHT.  Produced by legendary alt rock name Kramer, TOWARDS LIGHT is a collection of ragged guitar tunes that evoke images of The Wedding Present, Sonic Youth and The Fall, The Nightjars making no real attempts to create anything particularly groundbreaking or extraordinary here.  Whilst TOWARDS LIGHT is pleasing in an old school indie rock kind of way, The Nightjars never feel like a particularly original or special band, there's very little that's distinctive or stand out here, non descript vocals and clanging guitars suggesting a band without any real personality of their own; go to any indie gig anywhere in the country and you could probably find a band just like The Nightjars playing on any given night of the week.

Opener YOU SET ME REELING is a decent enough starting point, but again hardly awe inspiring or special, Ollie Wright's vocals not distinctive enough to ever really truly engage, neither the melodies nor the guitar work transcending the ordinary either.  SET THEM UP is a more boisterous, noisy affair, though the same problems halt the song from emerging as anything more than generic indie rock.

NO KICKS is a definite improvement, skewed guitar histrionics reminiscent of the Archers Of Loaf or Polvo interweaving with Wrights' melodies, the more staccato vocal delivery proving a more distinctive and successful formula for The Nightjars.  The discordant slide guitar licks of MDMA herald another step up in quality, The Nightjars again managing to raise their game and deliver a more inspired and fired up sounding salvo.

TOWARDS LIGHT is a record that despite these few moments of promise, unfortunately all too often falls into blander, generic indie rock trappings, The Nightjars sounding too indistinct and by-the-numbers to engage.  Still, with the odd glimpses of promise and potential here, there's a strong suggestion that The Nightjars could well transform into something much more intriguing and special with a touch more time and evolution.

Dan Sims - Guitar

Phil Arnold - Guitar

Seamus O'Kane - Drums

Ollie Wright - Bass/Vocals

''Genius ... inspired by the likes of The Fall, Sonic Youth, The Buzzcocks and Can, The Nightjars are an old-school rock band in the best possible sense of the word, full of steely self-possession, dark eccentricity and a fierce, militant approach’ (Manchester Evening News)

Not many bands can claim to have played one of their first shows on stage with Damo Suzuki from Can.

It all started when 8 year old next-door neighbours Ollie (Bass + Vocals) and Phil (Guitar) met. A few years later they began playing guitar together after school. A love of Nirvana, then Oasis, made the idea of being in a band a reality. Friends’ mixtapes, Mark and Lard, Steve Lamacq, John Peel, taping off the radio, buying 7” singles. Music soon became an obsession.

The Nightjars foundations were built on a love of albums by The Velvet Underground, Mogwai, Super Furry Animals, Spiritualized, Sonic Youth and Stereolab - Inspired to form a band, gig in Manchester. Soon Dan (Guitar) was recruited and then Seamus (Drums), recently sacked from his previous band for hitting the drums too hard. Perfect for The Nightjars.

Polytechnic produced their first demo which got them some local gigs, a track on a High Voltage compilation and a strong local fanbase - . Hotly tipped by the Manchester press, The Nightjars will soon be bringing their distinctive sound to the rest of the UK with the release of their debut album.

‘Towards Light’ was made at Bryn Derwen Studios in North Wales. Recorded and mixed in under a week with Kramer at the controls (Sonic Youth, Low and Galaxie 500).

The Nightjars>http://www.thenightjars.com