The Steady Hand

NRSK have been crafting excellent noisy pop for more than 16 years now. The line-up has gone through a few drummer changes, but the core song-writing duo of Matt Hunter, and Peyton Pinkerton have remained. The sound of "A Steady Hand" is very crisp and hi-fi, and you know the purchase is worth it when the intro track "Overture" explodes from delicately plucked to a blast of wailing My Bloody Valentine-esque atmosphere. The album continues with a very consistent stream songs balanced between good songwriting, infused with noisy guitar sparingly, and excellent use of language. On "Fighting Off The Pricks" Pinkerton ponders the strains on a serious and long term relationship "I need you to see you’re making your last stand/ while holding on to me and fighting off the pricks with one hand". "From A Roof" is a brutally honest farewell to a former founding band member who left the band in it's first year, and committed suicide in 2001. This is album is one of the gems that will get lost in the bustle of 2006, but should be sought out.