Nightlights

Long Way Home (2010)

mikexdude

When No Harm Done was still an active force, I was only a casual listener. I am pretty sure I did my best to ignore them. I remember being stupidly jealous that they were out touring at such a young age and I was rotting in my room, being a boring teenager too afraid of hard work. But for what they were, they were undoubtedly a good melodic hardcore band. The first post-break-up project that I've heard, Nightlights, is more in in line with the Latterman variety. If that sounds up your alley, their debut EP Long Way Home will not let you down.

Vocalist Matt Messore does sound a lot like the gruff and scrappy Matt Canino, and does that repeating-of-lines thing (ex: "hold on and hold on and hold on and hold on x456765/ to those moments that hold meaning" in Latterman's "Doom! Doom! Dom!"). Track 3, "Bluffington" is almost Latterman by-the-book--the vocal intro, the open strings, the octave leads, the palm-muted verse… It is by no means an exact rip-off, but the influence is very much on their sleeves. They cite the Menzingers as an influence as well, and I hear a little of that too.

However, my favorite song is the least Latterman-sounding one: "Are You the Keymaster" reminds me more of Braid-esque chords on top of Small Brown Bike's flow. It's a heavy track in that post-hardcore way, and makes for a clear standout. If I were writing for Nightlights, I would definitely write more songs like this.

But that's because it has its own Identity--like I said, this sounds an awful lot like their influences. For a debut EP, I think it's excusable to be that forward. There's really no doubt in my mind that when it's time for a followup or full-length, they'll deliver.