Night School – For Keeps Review

What does Night School sound like?

Sweet girl goth vocals matched up with the grizzly underbelly of darker rock.

The review of ‘For Keeps’ by Night School

Witchy shoegazey goths Night School return after three years away with their new release ‘For Keeps’. The quartet have honed their style over the years to create rock that has a hard, grizzly guitar edge and hazy, slightly atonal vocals that serenely drift over the top. It’s the antidote to the poison, or the soft kiss that lingers long after the attack. These girls know how to rock, and ‘For Keeps’ is perhaps their most cohesive and singular release to date.

‘Lullaby’ opens the album with a southern rumbling. With just ‘la la’ used as vocals to evoke a horror movie chill, the rest of the band builds itself up into a cluttering rage over its two-minute span. Still, the creepy vocals playfully float around disconnected from reality, and it sets us up for the mood Night School brings. ‘Bitter Pill’ is a merger of acoustic rock and dissonant electric guitar, hazily chiming away in the distance. It is beautifully understated but extremely catchy and effective. My late 90s alt-rock heart is bountiful with this track, and it pounds harder with ‘Advice’. Reminding me a little of Throwing Muses if they were fronted by Sri or a sickly sweet twist of Charly Bliss. Big chords, clever hooks, and an anthemic pulse behind the music. It just works.

After the trip-hop ethereal beats and keyboards of ‘Ember’, a short bridging track, we reach the title track for the album. ‘For Keeps’ is a sludgy, plodding rock track. The layered vocals are clearer and at the forefront here, letting the razor-buzz of the electric guitar grind into your ears underneath. The darker tones, twangy solo riffs, and southern vibe elevate the track. ‘Time Lapse’ expertly plays on volume. Distant echoes of lethargic guitar plucks intersperse full-on gazy gothic feels in what is a standout track on the collection. ‘Goodbye’ then rounds out the set with an echoey piano, synthy shroud and vocal ballad. The track fades out to a muffled voice recording. The EP tracks what love can do to someone’s mental state and their psyche when they are desperate to cling on to it. It is fair to say Night School’s vision is not a happy one…

Whilst there are some hooks, chord patterns, and satisfying moments of full tilt guitars, this is a sleeper hit collection of tracks. ‘For Keeps’ works exceptionally well as a body of work. The songs tell a complete tale and effortlessly glide into each other. These are good songs on their own, but they support a narrative and overarching dark shroud of love together – and it makes them better as a collection. It is lovely to have Night School back again. The sweet girly vocals matched with the dark underbelly rock is a powerful combo.

Recommended track: Time Lapse

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