Being a metalhead for as long as I have, I’ve seen my fair share of here today, gone tomorrow trend bands. Most of these acts go from virtually unknown to viral superstars overnight, with everyone and their mom asking, “Have you heard the new *insert trend band here* album?” Most of these bands fall into the black metal vein (i.e. Batushka), death metal vein (i.e. Blood Incantation), or some bizarre amalgamation of either or style mixed with hardcore (i.e. Nails). What I’m not used to is a band from my beloved AOR niche getting this treatment, but here we are.
As of this writing, my Facebook timeline has been absolutely flooded with posts regarding this new Swedish outfit named Nestor. From what I can gather, unlike legitimate revivalists like Station, Eclipse, and so on, Nestor are a tongue in cheek “joke band”, the same way Steel Panther is to hair metal. Well if that’s the case, I’m having a hard time finding the punchline on their debut album, Kids in a Ghost Town, because this collection of unabashed 80s worship is totally tubular.
Kids in a Ghost Town doesn’t bring anything new to the table creatively or musically, but it exudes the type of neon drenched nostalgia someone like myself looks for in an AOR release. Not only that, but it does so rather well, from production and arrangement to melodies and spirit. Aside from the usual genre tropes, Nestor is sure to include elements of pop, hard rock, and metal as well, making it an appealing listen for all retro music fans. For example, the cuts that sit on the hard rock side of things boast riffing comparable to Dokken and Scorpions (“On the Run”, the title track), which is always a good thing. Others combine the muscle of euro AOR with the hook laden sensibilities of American AOR, like “Stone Cold Eyes” and “These Days”, both which sound like Talisman meets Survivor.
The band channels their inner west coast AOR vibe on “Perfect 10 (Eyes Like Demi Moore)” and “1989”, while “Firesign” serves as the album’s obligatory high power headbanger, reminiscent of Europe. The only time this album seemed to slide off the tracks was when it went into ballad mode. As everyone knows, the ballad is sacred to the AOR formula. The challenge these days is to write one that doesn’t sound like a rehash of “Sister Christian” or “Faithfully”. Nestor succeeds with the Def Leppard-esque “We Are Not OK”, but falls short on the piano ballads “It Ain’t Me” and “Tomorrow”, the latter being a duet with 80s pop princess Samantha Fox.
Aside from a couple slight missteps, Kids in a Ghost Town stands tall as a melodic rock monster. They must be doing something right because their set to be the sole AOR band on the packed Keep it True Rising festival, set to take place in a matter of weeks. And if they can make it on a lineup boasting the likes of Candlemass, Acid, and Tom G. Warrior performing a Hellhammer set, they can make it anywhere.
8 out of 10
Label: Independent
Genre: AOR
For fans of: The Night Flight Orchestra, Station, Journey