Nightingale is the debut album from Minneapolis’ Graveyard Club. Heavily influenced by 1980’s modern rock (musically, lyrically, and even visually), Nightingale delivers catchy pop compositions with precise synthesizer work. The vocals, shared between Matthew Schufman, who also plays keyboards, and Amanda Zimmerman on bass, are strong and just dramatic enough to give the album the right amount of melancholy. Although Nightingale sometimes wears its influences on its sleeves, which often happens to bands on their first album, I think Graveyard Club stays on track and delivers a decent recording. For the future, if they get more ambitious with their arraignments and more confident with their vocal work [Amanda could easily lead a couple of tracks], they have potential to produce a solid follow-up.

RIYL: Twin Shadow, The Mary Onettes, late New Order, Wild Nothing, & The Magnetic Fields’s 69 Love Songs LP.

FCC CLEAN!!
Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, and, 8

1. (3:50) **Into the Dark – Vivid synthesizer intro, melodic guitars, passionate vocals. Catchy pop song.
2. (2:46) *The Night Is Mine – Synth-pop territory. Effective vocal duo. Short but sweet.
3. (3:25) Easy, Killer – Standard pop tune. Album filler.
4. (4:08) **Sleepwalk – Simple basic instrumentation. Another effective vocal duo. Dreamy melody.
5. (3:12) Nightingale – Crickets and pianos. Slow and dramatic.
6. (3:14) *Stay Young – Long quiet intro, solid vocal duo again, likable upbeat ending.
7. (3:26) Fire In The Sky – Synth-pop exercise. It will make Anything Box proud.
8. (3:40) *October – Synth and drums. Very 80’s rocky with lots of guitar parts. Solid.
9. (3:25) Skull & Crossbones – Playful 60’s inspired synths. Melodically very different from the other songs. Tasteful moments.
10. (4:21) Kings of Summer – Another slow and dramatic track.