Nap Eyes – I'm Bad Now

Existentialism has rarely sounded so jaunty. For their third album Nova Scotia slack-rockers Nap Eyes sharpen up their act and create moments of brilliance.

The record’s silly, bratty title suggests a world of cut and dried moral judgements, but singer Nigel Chapman’s lyrics dance around the topic with much more nuance. Album opener Every Time the Feeling is bright and witty, rolling through a kind of déjà vu. The four-piece sound deceptively airy when digging in to these questions of value and worth; Judgement’s a track about trusting your gut, but not too much, and when the strummed undercurrent surges to overtake Chapman’s vocals, it feels like a kind of epiphany. Dull Me Line has quips for days, with throw-away lines bemoaning 'bored and lazy disappointment art,' and a greasy guitar hook that cuts straight through the folky twang. Sage is woody and cleansing, with a howling, steely guitar and a painterly approach to setting the scene: 'The rain is rustic, the fields and pastures are a deep dark grey.'

Nap Eyes are mostly concise in their wanderings, but occasionally meander too far from the path. Follow Me Down is a kind of day-in-the-life, lacking drive with an intentional kind of mundanity and lifted only by a satisfying, thudding bass. At the other extreme, White Disciple is so complicated and verbose it ties itself in knots. Either way, these tracks mark the boundaries of an album that’s still exploring itself. 

Listen to: Every Time the Feeling, Dull Me Line, Sage