Nightshift – “Make Kin”

Got a new wafer of post-punk goodness out of the Trouble in Mind camp today and as usual the label is scouring all the best scenes for ya. Nabbing Nightshift out of the always fertile Glasgow pool, the band offers up a new track that’s navigating the brittle and damaged end of the genre’s spectrum. I’m always a sucker for a track that’s coiled and cool, and Nightshift doesn’t disappoint. While they’ve got some similarities with post-punk forebears like The Raincoats, Marine Girls, or Young Marble Giants, there’s an uneasiness to “Make Kin” that has me reaching for a few Aussie exports like Ostraaly or J. McFarlane’s Reality Guest, especially with the lacing of woodwinds over the top. The track’s more bracing than anything out of those camps, though, and it bodes well for what’s to come from the band. Guitars rumble over a loping beat, but the whole thing’s about vocals — measured and driving, Eothen Stern takes the temperature down in the room about 20 degrees with every passage she unfurls. Really looking forward to this one. Zoe is out February 26th.