ALBUM: The Nerves Live! (Recorded 1977; Released 2009)
MVC Rating: 2.5/$$$$
It’s apropos that I throw this in after describing Northern PIkes, the Canadian band, as sounding like some of the power pop music coming out of So-Cal. Specifically I mentioned the Plimsouls, the Beat and The Nerves. All of whom had some shared members such as Paul Collins and Peter Case.
I rarely buy new vinyl, I’m a bargain hunting sort of collector and I have a hard time paying $25 for a a record. Especially after getting some amazing records in the $1-5 range. It’s a little more work, sure, but that’s part of the fun.
So I splurged when I saw this Nerves record, a record of lost live tapes on violet vinyl I had the Plimsouls; I had the Beat. I enjoyed that music.
So this seemed a natural Christmas gift to myself two years ago, I believe it was WUXTRY in Athens, Ga. I don’t regret the purchase but and there is a but. This record sounds like hell. Like they only had one microphone hanging from the ceiling in a loud juke joint. You know why it sounds like that? Because it was recorded with one microphone hanging from the ceiling in a loud juke joint.
This is for archivists and completists, which on this one I took one step closer to becoming. I know many of the songs on this record already so I could pick them out and it was fun to see them in a setting in the wild like this. But for those interested in this genre, should probably start with some other albums by Peter Case or the Plimsouls or Paul Collins.
However when the inclination is just right, and you turn this up to about 9, you will be transported to this noisy bar called the Pirate’s Cove in Cleveland Ohio, May 26, 1977 with a noisy and melodic band power pop band called The Nerves.