ALBUM REVIEW: Kids In A Ghost Town (Deluxe Edition) – Nestor

Timing is everything when you’re in a band. When’s the right time to drop an album? How is that going to be structured? When should a band start touring or promoting upcoming material? Is the plan that’s been put in place entirely fool-proof? The answer to that last question is always a no when it comes to the unpredictable nature of the music industry. It has also been a no in terms of NESTOR. The Swedish hard rock outfit went on hiatus shortly after their formation in 1989. That break would go on for 32 years until the release of their debut album, Kids In A Ghost Town (2021). A mystery we’d agree. When the idea of reissuing this album came less than a year later, the mystery turns into an enigma. Yet the minutia isn’t what we are here to comment on as we dive into the upcoming re-issue.

This reissue comes in the form of not only the base album but has three bonus tracks included. Clearly fans of bucking the trend, NESTOR haven’t included the new material at the end of the core record but in the middle of it. Taking the track list from an already sizeable 11 tracks to 14 is a misstep in a time where many music consumers favour playlists over full albums. NESTOR are already selling themselves short by doing so.

Leaving that by the wayside, we dive into the core album. NESTOR opt for an atmospheric opener with A Fanfare For The Reliable Rebel, a VAN HALEN-esque bad boy image of police chatter over a radio warning of an armed suspect over smashing glass and screeching tyres. On The Run follows the vibe very well but falls short of the expectations the Swedes had built for themselves. What we’re given though are wonderfully 80s riffs from Jonny Wemmenstedt accompanied by overlaying keys from Martin Frejinger. Building the world of a glam metal Miami Vice, Tobias Gustavsson takes us through the town he knows like the back of his hand as he runs from the police. While Gustavsson has a wonderful voice as is displayed in tracks like These Days and Tomorrow, the intensity and gruffness which up-tempo songs demand is lacking.

That feeling of there being something missing sadly continues throughout the record. Where BON JOVI had the catchy hooks and MӦTLEY CRÜE could portray that “bad boys of glam metal” image, we can’t help but feel Kids In A Ghost Town has come at the wrong time. Long after the aforementioned bands had reinvented themselves multiple times over. To the point where certain themes come across as dated. The title track for example talks about long forgotten summers where we could frolic with our flavour of the month but then question what brought that holiday romance to an end. 1989 again talks about being “kids on the run” and plants itself within a very specific time.

Musically, this is a well-constructed record. Stone Cold Eyes’ riffs have a tasty bounce which exposes a touch of dead air until the synths slips beneath them. Mattias Carlsson keeps a steady beat throughout but leaves himself enough room to add small flourishes such as drum rolls which capture our attention for a moment and keep us engaged. The darker tones of These Days add so much texture to the record, making it less one-trick pony. Ominous tones house themselves within those synths and give us the moment we were looking for, while Tomorrow’s luscious power-ballad energy presents us with a beautiful and blooming chorus á la WHITESNAKE’s Is This Love, if only on a smaller scale.

The energy shifts slightly with the first of the three bonus tracks; Signed In Blood. Harmonised vocals sat on a bed of distorted guitars call us back to the 80s. What could be a wonderfully upbeat song gets wound down to a slow crawl for the story weaving verses. This band of brothers has their history laid bare for the world to see, though it may be slightly lost on many as their hiatus beginning shortly after they formed means they didn’t grow within the spotlight but rather behind closed doors. That alienation leads to the song feeling cheesy and missing the mark.

It then comes as no surprise one of the bonus tracks is a cover of one of the biggest songs of the decade. WHITNEY HOUSTON’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody has been given the cover treatment dozens of times over – some results better than others. The combination of keys and bass is different to listen to as the floor filler is slowed. Though as the vocals tell of late-night loneliness, we find the delivery to be off. The pacing of the chorus throws the entire song. Where JESSIE J executed this slower ballad version almost to perfection, NESTOR find themselves with a false start.

Frustrating seems to be the only word fit to describe Kids In A Ghost Town. Is this album a cohesive unit? It isn’t for us. The pacing of the tracks derail NESTOR very quickly in a short space of time. Various tone shifts leave something lacking. Where mystery should excite us, that feeling of “just a bit more” becomes increasingly challenging to justify. What NESTOR wanted to do was ignite the fire sign within us all and rekindle the flame of glam metal. They left us wanting to go back there, absolutely, but to revisit the bands which influenced them, rather than giving them another go round.

Rating: 5/10

Kids In A Ghost Town (Deluxe Edition) out now via Napalm Records.

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