Photo: Molly Keane Photography
'Faces' is the first single by Dublin based, Connaught bred 'post-pop' band Nerves, combining influences and traits of many different genres such as 80’s new wave/pop, post punk, noise rock, funk and more. 'Faces' as a song sits on the more 'new wave' inspired spectrum of their music, utilising shimmering, synth like guitar effects, jagged and dancey rhythms, a euphoric chorus and a noisy crescendo to finish things off.
'Faces', the debut single from Nerves, hit me in the feels straight away, a light-touch high-hat and hold-steady electric guitar chords hinting that a punch might be imminent, and indeed it was, but in order to control the flow the band avoid all out carnage in order to let the mood of the track seep into your head. There's a very rough-edge to the chorus, with the vocals almost falling completely into the quicksand of the surrounding instrumentation. The big appeal here though is an awareness of the anchor-genre the band are most keen on, a modern post-punk crash, bang and whallop with imperfections that make it more than interesting. It's a shot in the arm style of delivery I crave more often than not, and the angst-ridden finale is quality.
