The Coral Album: “Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker”

At least nobody can fault the Coral for lack of output. The Brit-rock band released "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" as a step between their last album and their new "Magic and Medicine." It lacks texture and dimension, but it's an entertaining little nugget of rough, raw rock.

A very blistery riff starts off the plodding "Precious Eyes." The rest of the album is predominantly very basic guitar rock like the catchy, raw "I Forgot My Name," the meandering "Sorrow or the Song," and the very ordinary "Keep Me Company." But there are also a few richer numbers like the slow, ominous "Song of the Corn," the spacey "Grey Harpoon," and the deliciously catchy "Venom Cable" with its reverberating organ.

Don't expect "The Coral" all over again, because that is not what you're going to get. "Nightfreak" is a lot less polished and musically deep, but it has a certain rough-hewn charm. More often than not, it's very basic guitar rock without a lot of complexity, augmented by little psychedelic flourishes like the zig-zag sound effects in "Grey Harpoon."

If the instrumentation is rough, at least it has some variety -- hollow drumming, psychedelic swashes, unpolished guitar riffs, with little additions like organs and surreal spoken interludes. The instrumentation is basically something that could be brilliant rock if it weren't lacking in dimension, needing more layers and more complexity.

The lyrics definitely leave something to be desired, with howls of "I can see THROUUUUGH YOOUUU!", and the poppy ditty: "Migraine - Doctor, doctor, tearing my hair out/Migraine - Doctor, doctor, what's it all about?" At least they sound like they are enjoying themselves -- the elated yowls and cheerfully muted vocals of "Lover's Parade" drip with barely-restrained enjoyment.

"Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" has the recognizable Coral sound, but it sounds like the guys simply put it out rather than polishing it into their more typical sound. Entertaining, but not terribly good. (Small note: "Nightfreak" can be found as part of "Magic & Medicine" in the US)

At least nobody can fault the Coral for lack of output. The Brit-rock band released "Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" as a step between their last album and their new "Magic and Medicine." It lacks texture and dimension, but it's an entertaining little nugget of rough, raw rock.

A very blistery riff starts off the plodding "Precious Eyes." The rest of the album is predominantly very basic guitar rock like the catchy, raw "I Forgot My Name," the meandering "Sorrow or the Song," and the very ordinary "Keep Me Company." But there are also a few richer numbers like the slow, ominous "Song of the Corn," the spacey "Grey Harpoon," and the deliciously catchy "Venom Cable" with its reverberating organ.

Don't expect "The Coral" all over again, because that is not what you're going to get. "Nightfreak" is a lot less polished and musically deep, but it has a certain rough-hewn charm. More often than not, it's very basic guitar rock without a lot of complexity, augmented by little psychedelic flourishes like the zig-zag sound effects in "Grey Harpoon."

If the instrumentation is rough, at least it has some variety -- hollow drumming, psychedelic swashes, unpolished guitar riffs, with little additions like organs and surreal spoken interludes. The instrumentation is basically something that could be brilliant rock if it weren't lacking in dimension, needing more layers and more complexity.

The lyrics definitely leave something to be desired, with howls of "I can see THROUUUUGH YOOUUU!", and the poppy ditty: "Migraine - Doctor, doctor, tearing my hair out/Migraine - Doctor, doctor, what's it all about?" At least they sound like they are enjoying themselves -- the elated yowls and cheerfully muted vocals of "Lover's Parade" drip with barely-restrained enjoyment.

"Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker" has the recognizable Coral sound, but it sounds like the guys simply put it out rather than polishing it into their more typical sound. Entertaining, but not terribly good. (Small note: "Nightfreak" can be found as part of "Magic & Medicine" in the US)

Not wanting to damage sales, but I just thought if you are thinking of buying this import, you should know that it's an import of the British release, and as part of the American release, you get the exact same item as this, completely for free, when you buy Magic and Medicine by the Coral. So basically you can get this very exact item for free if you buy the American version of Magic and Medicine. No point buying this whatsoever.