Nude Party "Midnight Manor" Album Review

Released October 2, 2020, Midnight Manor, the new record from New York based band The Nude Party, took the world by storm. The twelve track, sophomore album from the band caught the eyes of many and stood out for being one of the best albums to come out of 2020. Right off the bat, the first track, "Lonely Heather," carries a fun, punk oriented style. The rowdy guitars of Shaun Couture and lead singer, Patton Magee, make for an impressive opening and a track certainly made for playing live and a killer mosh pit. The six piece also creates a charming kazoo solo at the record’s final song, "Nashville Record Co," a song about having large dreams and leaving your hometown chasing the thought of becoming “a hip cat with a big fat salary.” Through "Nashville Record Co." the Nude Party brings back their forever common theme of starting a band and living out dreams although there’s no one to back them up on it, as previously seen through the self-titled record from 2018.

The sheer vulnerability Patton Magee shares through tracks, "Time Moves On" and "Things Fall Apart," attracts attention on the album and offers pure emotion. Patton continued to share his thoughts towards the record as a whole through a post on instagram stating, “We’ve dedicated the last seven years of our lives entirely to this creative engine, with the shared understanding that we are greater together than we are apart.” The songwriting overall is what sets Midnight Manor apart from recent records and past Nude party projects. The lyrics take upon numerous connotations and contain a multitude of witty one-liners placed along the way. A favorite of mine comes from track two, "Pardon Me, Satan," “If the worth of a man is the weight of his word, I guess mine could be blown by the wind.”

Midnight Manor is an incredible record to say the least. Upon one listen you can sense the care and soul each person placed into it. From the bass solos of Alec Castillo on "Cure is You" to Don Merrill’s classic piano riffs in songs like "Shine Your Light" to Jon “Catfish” DeLorme’s magical pedal steel guitar on "What’s the Deal," every band member brings extraordinary talents to the record. I could say plenty of wonderful things towards this album as it's one of my favorites this year. An overall 8.5/10 from Honest Mess. Midnight Manor out everywhere on New West Records now.