The nagging feeling that The Coral rushed the recording of their second album without having amassed a really meaty selection of songs isn't alleviated by the arrival of Nightfreak..., 11 songs rather bizarrely classed as a mini album (see also Erykah Badu's similarly disingenuous Worldwide Underground)?presumably by a label keen that this not be seen as an official follow-up. There are some diverting moments?most notably the sparse, languid funk of "Grey Harpoon"?but generally the sense is still of a bunch of tasteful influences (The Doors, natch, Nuggets-ish psych/garage) and some well chosen chords failing to coalesce into something with real emotional weight. Nightfreak... is little more than a bunch of B-sides in search of a point.
The nagging feeling that The Coral rushed the recording of their second album without having amassed a really meaty selection of songs isn’t alleviated by the arrival of Nightfreak…, 11 songs rather bizarrely classed as a mini album (see also Erykah Badu’s similarly disingenuous Worldwide Underground)?presumably by a label keen that this not be seen as an official follow-up. There are some diverting moments?most notably the sparse, languid funk of “Grey Harpoon”?but generally the sense is still of a bunch of tasteful influences (The Doors, natch, Nuggets-ish psych/garage) and some well chosen chords failing to coalesce into something with real emotional weight. Nightfreak… is little more than a bunch of B-sides in search of a point.