May 28th, 2013 
Adrian Garza 
Artist: Nightmares For A Week
Album: Civilian War
Genre: Rock / Punk
Label: Broken English / Suburban Home
Sure New York’s Nightmares For A Week took a good 3+ years before releasing their sophomore LP, Civilian War, but the time and effort are pridefully shown throughout the album’s raucous ten tracks. For those not acquainted with NFAW, there are two things you need to know immediately: One, they are not as heavy as their misleading name depicts them to be, and two, the group did indeed name themselves after a Jawbreaker lyric, which is pretty punk if you ask me.
While Civilian War doesn’t have any overarching lyrical concepts, the band takes no excuse to churn out nothing but quality work within each track. Starting things off, “Down In The Streets” opens the album up with a combination of rock guitars, mandolin lines, organ chords, with frontman Bill Manley’s smooth vocals offering themselves as a finishing touch. with all of those elements continuing throughout the record. “Dead Men” keeps things coming with its melodic verses that complement the gang vocals on the chorus quite fairly.”Red Eyes” displays much soul and passion.
Further on, the band’s share of the work on “Bloodshot Monday” match the lyrical themes of partying till the sun rises. “Cancer Kills” appears a little melancholy at first, but as time goes on, the song becomes increasingly hopeful and optimistic. At the very end of it all, “We’re All Going To Hell” serves as the record’s end piece, and goes out with its guns blazing.
With influences from both modern and classic bands ranging from the likes of Japandroids and The Replacements, it’s really easy to hear the several bands that have influenced this Kingston group’s range of sound. And in a way that’s the beauty of it: There are so many different sounds to be heard, from the most subtle to the most obvious aspects, and all come together in a unique way that makes for a truly wonderful listening experience.
What listeners can expect to find with this release is that Nightmares For A Week have clearly mastered the art of tip-toeing the line of youth and maturity with poise and grace. Civilian War really exemplifies just how ridiculously underrated and overlooked this punk act is, but it also gives you hope that won’t be the case for long. If there’s one thing to take from this, it’s that good new school rock and roll bands like Nightmares For A Week can still emerge from the underground without support from some major label.
Rating: 7.5/10
Review written by: Adrian Garza (Twitter)
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