Infomaniac
Nightmare of you, an indie rock quartet out of New York City, is preparing to release their second full length Infomaniac. Following their 2005 self-titled release and their Bang EP in 2007, their new album had a lot to prove. You know how when you love a CD so much that you don’t think it can possibly be topped? That’s how I feel about Nightmare of You, but Infomanic has far exceeded my expectations and could end up being another favorite.
Nightmare of You is one of the best bands out of New York this decade. I know, I know. That’s a big statement, but I’m prepared to back it up. Nightmare of you has all of the essentials of a great band: originality, creativity, diversity, and ambition. And all of this definitely shines through on Infomaniac.
The whole album reminds me of a broken music box. A little happy, a little creepy. The album starts out with “Good Morning, Waster” with frontman Brandon Reilly singing “I know it’s hard / but it will only get harder from here / so before you’re dead / get yourself out of bed” to an acoustic twangy guitar solo. This sets the mood for the album but each song is entirely unique. Some like “Hey Sweetheart” are more fast-paced and piano-driven like those on the more recent Bang EP, while songs such as “Eustacie Vye” have a slower staccato piano melody like many of the tracks on the self-titled album. Other songs like “Experimental Bed” are unique to this release and are exactly as the name implies: a little experimental and a little creepy, set in minor keys.
Nightmare of You has a unique style that contrasts happy piano and guitar melodies with cynical and sexual lyrics and sweet vibrato vocals white create this interesting dichotomy. They are constantly playing with this formula and creating songs that all have a different feel but are completely Nightmare of You. To top it off, Nightmare of You has created their own label, the Bevonshire Label, in order to release and distribute their own music. If this hasn’t proved that this band is awesome, then check out their album Infomaniac which will be released on August 4th and see for yourself.
