NERVES Capture A Fresh Modern Punk Spirit On Debut EP ‘Put A Plaster On It’

The British punks in NERVES present music both conscious of where its sound has come from and where it’s going. Their debut EP Put A Plaster On It packs a familiar anger and musical frenzy in a thoroughly new package. Where others might take the liberties provided by the punk community to spin their music nearly out of control, NERVES instead dial their music back, proving perhaps conscious of the power of careful songwriting as much as they’re keen on emotions that transcend songwriting.

In so doing, the band charts a new path to the soul of the “everyman’s music” encapsulated by punk and hardcore. They don’t lose their edge at any point in their work, remaining always seething, but they open up the listener to some other stops along the way to that heart that might have previously been ignored. In a sense, they present a humanized and normalized punk sound. While the familiar wild punk sound might be just the thing for someone already into heavy music, it’s not for everyone. Here, though, the force of the sound is harder to ignore. It weaves its way to maintaining a place in the listener’s mind.

The band doesn’t sound as though they’ve intended to craft something that panders to an audience, to be clear – the allure of their music simply proves a welcome byproduct. They loop the listener in as much as they take to screaming in their face.

They’ve drawn from across the palate of modern musical sensibility in crafting their way. They’re both minimalist and reserved and intelligently angry, keeping themselves from falling into any of the gimmicks that might plague either side of their path.

Their music instead begs to be listened to time and time again. It’s a moody, visceral experience that drags the listener along like an exhausting, perhaps even questionable late night party. It’s all that just via some sound.

5/5 Stars

Listen to the band below, via Spotify.