Night Court / The Dumpies - The Shit Split Part Duh 7"

Hovercraft (2024)

I feel like the split 7" is really an endangered species at this point, so I am always happy to see a new one get released.  Having that 7" include one band that I really like and one I'm not at all familiar with is exactly what I want out of a split.  A sure thing that I know I'll like and an opportunity to hear something new.

Night Court is back with four songs of ramshackle fuzz pop songs.  They are all pretty short as they would need to be to fid that many on one side of a 7".  As with everything they've released so far, I enjoy this immensely.  There's enough punk energy to keep things upbeat and exciting, the right amount of pop hooks to keep my brain singing along and just enough oddball chaos to keep things interesting.

My first impression of The Dumpies is that they are similar in spirit with The Marked Men.  Fast guitars with a mix of fuzz and jangle, distorted vocals, but an unwavering commitment to catchy melodies.  They're not quite as polished as The Marked Men just yet, but really who is.  I went into this 7" as a Night Court fan, but I'm leaving it being really interested in The Dumpies as well.  Though I will say that I wish all of their songs weren't quite so short.

Night Court / The Dumpies - The Shit Split Part Duh:

https://nightcourtpunk.bandcamp.com/album/shit-split-part-duh

https://thedumpies.bandcamp.com/album/shit-split-part-duh

Night Court - Nervous Birds Too Cassette

Snappy Little Numbers (2022)

A few weeks ago I wrote about volume one in the Nervous Birds double cassette epic from the band known as Night Court.  That one came out in December and this second tape was just released in May.  I tried to get this one written about a bit more timely than the last one.  But I'm just one guy with two ears and can only consume so much music at a time (which seems to be getting harder and harder each year that I continue to age).

Nervous Birds Too isn't really any different from Nervous Birds One.  And I am one hundred percent, completely fine with that.  In fact, I applaud it, because this is exactly the sort of thing I want to hear more and more of.  Tight, catchy songs with someone rough, lower fidelity production.  It captures all of the energy of the songs but never sacrifices the insane amount of hooks.

Last time I mentioned that this is a group that's straddling catchy garage rock like So Cow or Wavves, but is also putting in a Pavement-y indie rock perspective and I stand by that statement for this tape as well.  This is great stuff, so great that I will now insert my annoying comment that I wish these had also been released on vinyl. Tapes, you know?

Night Court - Nervous Birds Too:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/nervous-birds-too

Night Court - Nervous Birds! One Cassette

Snappy Little Numbers / Debt Offensive (2021)

This lingered a little longer than I would have liked as it was released this past December.  On my birthday, no less if the Bandcamp release date is accurate.  Snappy Little Numbers does a great job of unearthing bands that fit pretty perfectly into my wheelhouse.  So much so, that I even forgive them for putting out some of it on tape.  Debt Offensive is no slouch in the quality releases department either and Night Court is yet another example of this.

I watched the TV show Night Court a lot as a kid.  I'm not sure I really understood all of the jokes, but they had a wacky cast of characters and Yakov Smirnoff as a recurring guest star.  Gold.  Nervous Birds! One is also gold.  They have a lo-fi guitar sound and beat it into submission resulting in song after song just crammed full of catchy hooks.  

There are times where I hear Wavves, other times where So Cow feels like a good touchstone and still others where Pavement or Guided By Voices seem to make the most sense.  It's an album oddly anchored in early 90s indie rock and early 2010s garage rock, but somehow they mesh perfectly together.  

For me, if you put out an album that's this catchy and memorable, I'm going to be a happy guy no matter what fidelity you're recording in or what era has most inspired you.  Night Court has done that and it seems that Nervous Birds! Two is already lined up for release really soon.  Color me excited to complete the duology.

Night Court - Nervous Birds! One:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/nervous-birds-one