Nap Eyes - Thought Rock Fish Scale: reckless, wistful and a little bit skewed

Nova Scotia band Nap Eyes have learned their lesson well – if there is any music act out there that genuflects more to the sounds of Lou Reed, The Go-Betweens, Swell Maps and The Only Ones, then we have yet to hear it.

There is, then, a down-at-heel yet often sublime feel from Nap Eyes’ second album.

Last year's debut (Whine of the Mystic) hinted at how the band's literate guitar pop might develop, and such traces take root here.

Of the album's eight tracks, it's almost impossible to single out one that doesn't hit the singular mark between structured and untidy, but the likes of Stargazer, Lion in Chains and Trust nonetheless manage to convey the vagaries of control without in any way spoiling the end result.

Reckless? Wistful? A little bit skewed? All these and more.

[ paradiseofbachelors.com ]