NOZZLE Winter (Lucky Seven)
Firstly, do we have any other nominations for the worst band name in the history of recorded music? My dictionary describes a nozzle as "a projecting part with an opening that usu serves as an outlet; esp a short tube with a taper or constriction used on a hose, pipe, etc to speed up or direct a flow of fluid". Which doesn’t exactly seem suffused with the rampant spirit of rock 'n' roll to me.
Nozzle are a quartet whose make-up includes former members of Pressgang and New Model Army, and they play a kind of concerned rock music that appears to be gathering popularity in mainland Europe. It sounds a little like Big Country, Simple Minds, pre-global U2, The Alarm or even New Model Army, maybe with a dash of Weller/Oasis Britpop authenticity to spice the mix. It's obviously very well-intentioned, but there's nothing that snags in the synapses anywhere near as much as that awful name does, no matter how many times I play it. Nevertheless, it's obviously very competently played and performed, and the CD has the benefit of two additional radio edits, if you like that sort of thing, but personally I can't envisage any circumstances under which I'd want to listen to this album again.