Nocturnal Projections: C/D

There was a CD release the compiled much of the stuff but not everything. A collector friend of mine, as usual, got his hands on more then was ever released somehow and burned it for me. The main releases, far as I can tell are:

Nerve Ends in Power Lines/In Purgatory 7" which is just perfect. I may like these two songs better then almost anything from Joy Division or Echo. The Joy Division influence is clear, moreso then the Pin Group or any of Roy Montgomery's things. Both songs are fast punk/post-punk songs, think Public Image by PiL, Transmission, Disorder or These Days by JD.

Then there was a 12" called Another Year. This is also well-produced, but features some gloomy almost Unknown Pleasures type stuff. It's definately very Joy Division but with a more pure power chord type guitar playing and the very distinct Kiwi Peter Jefferies vocal style. It is no doubt the same guy who gave us the Catapult/Fate of the Human Carbine single 10 or so years later, and all those great solo releases. I haven't heard This Kind of Punishment for ages, but I don't think it's a stretch.

Then there were at least 2 cassette releases, from the stuff burned for me one is called Things That Go Bunt in the Night.. A lot of this stuff is live or lo-fi, but range from another killer post-punk song, Walk In a Straight Line, to some solo demo-ish acoustic guitar stuff from Peter.

I'll grab a song or two to share and invite the collector friend to contribute a more thorough response.

is Nerve Ends in Power Lines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_Projections

FWIW I reckon them to be more Warsaw than Joy Division IMO, although that may be in part down to the quality of the recordings than the content.

Peter himself is about as self-deprecating as you'll ever hear an artist be when it comes to the NPs stuff, especially the second 12". Be nice to see a complete reissue someday, were he to permit it.

As Dan notes above, see my Wikipedia entry for a rundown of what they did and where to find it. "My Neighbours" is a cassette track that found its way to the "Hate Your Neighbours" cd comp of NZ punk bands. Maybe not his best songwriting, but oh that guitar sound....

The fellow over at kiwitapes just posted the Biding Our Time cd (which you really should buy from Rob at Failsafe). Has a lot of good live stuff, but of interest to this thread is the one Nocturnal Projections song that TKOP would later do: "Words Fail Me." I suppose it's sort of their "Ceremony," not that it's as good a song. Still majestic, though. And you can't get it elsewhere.

http://kiwitapes.blogspot.com

Two important differences: 1) that there's more fluidity and dynamic variation to the NP's version--TKOP's reworking has a more uniform and massive wall of sound; 2) the NP's version is a lot longer--this comes from a double-timed coda that takes up an extra three and a half minutes. it could almost be another song tacked on; it feels a release after the control of the first five minutes.

To answer the TKOP fan's original question about the Projections' sound (which never got fully explored now that I re-read the thread), I'd say that the NPs had several sounds, which befits a band still figuring things out.

Chronologically:

The punk rock slashers found on the cassettes. Songs like "marlene," "fish shop," "world view." simple, fast songs with a great, ringing guitar sound I've never quite heard anywhere else, especially on "marlene."

The long, arty grinders on the cassettes: "obsessions," "the down song." I listen to these the least of all the NPs stuff I have, but they can be powerful if you're up (or down) for them.

the propulsive rave ups the NPs are best known for. Elements of Joy Division, but unrestrained by production. These are the classics. Cassettes and only 7": Nerve Ends, Inmate in Images--one of my all-time faves, Alone in a Corner, Walk in a Straight line. "moving forward" was from this time; it showed up on the cd. This is the sound Dan's referring to above that he likes "better than almost anything by JD or Echo."

The slightly restrained songs that come from the first 12" (five songs) in 1983. This is where the Joy Division comparisons gain the most traction. The pacing is processional, the production a couple notches better. "Isn't that Strange," "You'll Never Know." "Restoration" (found on the cd) shares this sound, too. How "Isn't that Strange" didn't make it to the cd is baffling--it's unimpeachable. (I think it's also up on the kiwitapes site--poke around.)

The second 12" had three songs, two of which (Understanding, In Darkness) are slightly overcooked-in-the-studio numbers that try to marry the sound of the first 12" with the pace of the 7". The third song ("another year") sounds of a piece with the first 12".

Near the end now, there are a couple of songs from around 1983 that showed up only on the cd (people who told me, no problems here) that prefigure Peter's acoustic stuff. Lovely.

"Words fail Me" was done live at the tail end of the NPs; it draws on a lot of the sounds listed above: it's a bit of an art grinder and a Factory processional, but the guitar and voice have a patient beauty to them. Not quite TKOP's wall of sound yet, but on the way to that, perhaps under the influence of their Xpressway contemporaries. That extra three minute bit that doesn't quite belong goes back to their earlier propulsion.

I'm in the opposite position from the fellow who asked the initial question--I've listened to the NPs (and Peter's solo stuff) a lot more than to TKOP, who didn't have enough variety for me. It seemed you got either the wall of sound stuff like "Immigration" or the gentler numbers. All of it worth hearing repeatedly (and better almost anything else--understand that the NPS are one of my top ten bands). But I was never nearly as moved by TKOP--the sound was too monochromatic (many will prefer its severity) and the songs too unfocused to draw me in to the extent the NP's work did. No point of entry. But for anyone who loves the experimental, drone-based, dusty territory that Xpressway claimed, TKOP will be where it's at and the NPs might sound a bit obvious, a bit ebullient, and a bit dated.

Okay, woah. This band is really good! Holy hell, I wish someone had told me about them sooner!

This is officially my new favourite band.

Just take the Worldview 7" for instance...

POST PUNK CLASSIC!!!! John Lydon would be proud, I think.

And I've particularly flipped my lid over "Words Fail Me".

Since I'm bored, this thread's revival + a friend returning from the US saying a lot of people (possibly GSL-related) were mentioning Nocturnal Projections, have inspired a transcription of Graeme Jefferies' liner notes to Nerve Ends In Power Lines:

In Purgatory: Recorded live to 24 track. The song was written mid 81 and appeared in a different form on a self released cassette we did in New Plymouth towards the end of that year. The local radio stations played this song as the A side to our first single but it was actually "Nerve Ends In Power Lines".

People Who Told Me: Written mid 82 in Auckland and recorded posthumously. As with most bands that move to the big city and become local flavour of the month the problems of more expensive rents and the rock and roll lifestyle tend to kill your creativity a little and your actual output alot. The song was kind of in the dogbox along with "Overground in China" and "No Problems Here".

Another Year: Written at around the same time as the previously mentioned three songs but the only one that made it onto tape at that time. Brett started it with his bass line. It was released late 83 after the band had folded on a 3 song EP. Something went wrong with the cutting and it sounded like shit. I was really surprised at the diffference when I rescued the master from the vaults at Stebbings.

Difficult Days: Released on the 5 song "Another Year" EP and recorded in June 82 live to 24 track. There are 3 single chord overdubs in it but the rest is live. The tune was originally written on acoustic guitar and as with all of the Nocturnals songs Peter wrote the lyrics and added them to the music that had been written beforehand.

Walk in a Straight Line: Written in 1980 before the Nocturnal Projetions existed the song was originally performed briefly by "The Plastic Bags", one of the many post High School bands that Peter and I tacked together to make life more interesting in a small town. This version was recorded live at the Bellblock in New Plymouth in February 83 onto a very cheap cassette. It must have been one of the last times the band ever played it.

You'll Never Know: Opening song on the "Another Year" EP and live to 24 track Written mid 81 round about the same time as Difficult Days and previously recorded on the second self released cassette. This version, as with just about everything we recorded, is a first take.

No Problems Here: Another lost soldier from 82. This was originally recorded on a bottom of the line cassette recorded called Wilbur and overdubbed posthumously. The band never did manage to play a good version of it. The precussion you can hear is Peter tapping along on the Auckland Telephone Directory.

Moving Forward: Written around the same time as "In Purgatory" this one got dropped from the live set as it became too difficult for me to actually play due to the speed Gordon like to drum it at. This version is live from February 83 and must be the last time we played the song. I'm surprised I managed to make it through it without making a mistake.

Could It Be Increased?: Probably not. The only song that Peter and I ever wrote that had the lyrics and music put together at the same time. We put this one together in the upstairs bar of the Lion Tavern while it was closed with the odd free jug of beer for inspiration. Summer, late 81.

Nerve Ends In Power Lines: Written January 81 and first recorded on the first self-released cassette. The music is first take live to 24 track and Peters vocals are a second take. One of the songs we played live alot.

Restoration: Recorded live in New Plymouth in February 83 this song was meant to be one of the songs on the 4th Nocturnals record that we never managed to record. This Kind of Punishment played it live at our first show but the Nocturnals version is alot better. No-one cuold play Bretts bass art quite like he could. I guess it's becuase he though of it. This song and People Who Told Me, No Problems Here and Moving Forward have never been released before.

Thanks!

Sounds like Gibby Haynes!

Reissue vinyl on the way. An LP of the studio tracks (the single, and the two 12" EPs). And then an LP of live material.

Here's the live LP:

https://www.midheaven.com/item/inmates-in-images-by-nocturnal-projections

Love Peter & Graeme Jefferies and most of their bands. The "Nerve Ends In Power Lines" CD is great (and apparently ridiculously out of print) but still misses a bunch of stuff.