Review by Stephen SPAZ Schnee
When Dutch new wavers the Nits released their self-titled debut album in 1978 on an independent label, no one would have predicted that they would become one of the most exciting bands in modern music. Signing to CBS and releasing their second album Tent in 1979, the band took a huge step forward in dynamics, arrangement, imagination, and songwriting. Vocalist/keyboardist Henk Hofstede, and guitarist/vocalist Michiel Peters are distinctive talents, both working on different tangents, yet finding common musical ground. Imagine XTC with a pinch of the Residents, a slice of Devo and two cups of Beatles' chord changes, and then cook it in the inventiveness of early 10cc. Top-notch production by the band (with manager Aad Link), and former Supersister member (and future Nit), Robert Jan Stips make the songs come alive, and are as aurally exciting as the melodies themselves. For a band to go out on a limb and be experimental on one track ("Ping Pong"), then follow it up with a catchy single ("Tutti Ragazzi") makes for an interesting listen, to say the least. "The Young Reporter" recalls the Attractions at their slickest. "Umbrella," "1:30" "Some Other Night," and "Out Of Suburbia" are thinly veiled (yet brilliantly executed) Beatles rewrites. All in all, a sophomore release
The Nits - Tent - 1979
Tent is their very first album, and certainly quite different from would come later. Listening to this album, they don't appear very special. Synth-pop seems to be the appropriate label, even though there is an unusal amount of electric guiitar. The electric guitar, by the way, is much more present here than on later albums. Overall, they sound like a fairly normal band. I guess that this is not very remark- able; it only tells us that they hadn't found their own special form by then. It could be worth adding that their double-live CD Urk in- cludes material from Work, their third album, and on, but no songs from the two first, Tent and New Flat. Probably not without reason.
But if we regard this as a typical synth-pop album from 1979, how is it? Not bad. Synth-pop albums are often fairly inoffensive, unless they are too sleazy, and Tent isn't. The songs are quite catchy and exemplary short. And the lyrics are witty. In fact, if we are talking lyrics, we have no problem to recognize The Nits from their later works; here they had already found their own way, with small stories, atmospheric descriptions about various topics, often with a humouristic slant.
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