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Release date: March 10, 2017
Running time: 39:10, 12 tracks
Flemish band Nevermind Nessie is back with their sophomore album, “Best of Foes”. The five piece band have issued a 12 track CD which comes in a digipack with an 8 page booklet. The line-up is basically that of their debut album “Story of a Lost Generation”: Hendrik (lead vocals, guitar), Tijl (bass, backing vocals), Vincent (accordion, tin whistle) and Sam (drums). The new member is Charlotte (fiddle) instead of Pavel.
“Best of Foes” opens with “Intro”, where traditional instruments bagpipes, fiddle and accordion are joined by the electrical ones. The tune has a medieval twist and is stuck to the next track, the sing-along “Drink Up”: “Nessie is here, drink up! Drink up! / Nessie is here, to drink up all your beer!” Guest Jacob Donkersloot plays bagpipes on both numbers.
“Last Breath” is a number written by guest mandolinist Folkert Van Kerckhove. Kick-ass fiddling together with woah chorus.
The next cut is a pirate song titled “So Drunk”. Vicent plays accordion.
There is a video for track no. 4 here. “Best of Foes” was written by bassist Tijl and it’s a fecking brilliant number with a Flogging Molly twist. The lyrics tell the tale of a complicated relationship between a boy and a girl. The likes of The Pogues (“Fairy Tale of New York”) and Dropkick Murphys (“Dirty Glass”) wrote kick-ass songs about this subject, featuring guest female vocals. However, Nevermind Nessie have taken a different approach. Their friends tell the story, so there’s no girl vocals. Probably one of the catchiest songs of 2017.
After the single, Nevermind Nessie deliver a rocking number based on “The Road to Lisdoonvarna” tune. Vincent shifts from accordion to tin whistle. BTW, the song ends up with fast-paced tin whistle and fiddle.
“Beer Dance” is another standout track on “Best of Foes”. The song has been built up around the traditional tune “The Bear Dance”. “The Bear Dance” is quite popular among Asturian bands. Apparently, a Cornish band played that tune at an Asturian festival a long time ago. Some local bands loved it and plenty of renditions of “Danza l’osu” were played/recorded. So, people in Spain tend to think that it’s an Asturian traditional tune. But the tune is from Flemish origin and it’s titled “Berendans”. Nevermind Nessie open with some reggae sounding electric guitar and fiddle. Fiddle and tin whistle are played on the main theme, perfectly backed by hey shouts. Guest Jakob Donkersloot plays bagpipes too on this song. If you’re interested in that tune, further info can be found here (in Spanish) and here (in English).
Tracks no. 8, “Walk like a Pigeon” features “The Pigeon at the Gate” and “The Gravel Walk” reels. Nevermind Nessie do a great job once again using traditional stuff.
More highlights: the lively song “Empty Promise”. Amazing accordion by Vincent and great fiddle arrangements too.
The following song keeps up the quality of the previous track. “Monday Mornings” has everything to please the fans. Vincent plays accordion at the beginning and tin whistle at the end, and Charlotte masters the fiddle all around the song. This time the traditional tune that is played is the “The Kesh” jig.
As you have already noticed, Nevermind Nessie like to play with traditional tunes and their song titles. “The Finish” is based on the “Finnish Polka” aka “Ievan Polkka”. The final result is a badass number.
Finally, Nevermind Nessie offer a new Italian number, “Il Viaggio di Saltarello”. If they chose “Tarantella” on “Story of a Lost Generation”, now they’ve picked up and Italian tune “Saltarello” and Fiorenzo Carpi’s “Viaggio in groppa al tonno”.
Nevermind Nessie have some similarities with Uncle Bard and The Dirty Bastards. Their sound is different, but both bands use traditional tunes on their songs. Moreover, the packaging of their albums is spotless and full of details. As it has previously said, “Best of Foes” comes in a 6 panel digipack together with an 8 page booklet with all the lyrics and song credits. The studio credits are stated on the digipack. Hats-off!
I do love Nevermind Nessie. They have a young and fresh approach and they take risks when they cover material from non-Celtic countries. But, above all, their sound and production is excellent. They love the traditional stuff, but they don’t cover the usual pub standards. In fact, they are writing new pub standards
01 – Intro 1:53
02 – Drink Up 1:20
03 – Last Breath 3:22
04 – So Drunk 2:50
05 – Best of Foes 4:15
06 – No Way 3:44
07 – Beer Dance 3:17
08 – Walk Like a Pigeon 4:23
09 – Empty Promise 2:58
10 – Monday Mornings 3:00
11 – The Finish 3:36
12 – Il Viaggio di Saltarello 4:28
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Review by Kinksmarkham
