250th Post!!!!----As Time Dances Faster--The Nils--Green Fields in Daylight---

The Nils are a band I came onto quite late. Today it baffles me that so many great Canadian bands of the era passed completely under my radar. However, I can't believe that if I had gotten a whiff, a semblance of hype thrown my way, that I would not have have given these bands a good listen when they first came out. Perhaps part of the problem was scene snobbery. Too often people were looking to London, New York and LA for the good stuff. But as we all know, great music can come from anywhere--the question is, is anyone really listening?

A perfect example was the excellent Montreal punk pop band The Nils, led by brothers Alex and Carlos Soria. It took a rave review in Big Takeover magazine of the CD compilation on Mag Wheel Records, Green Fields in Daylight in 1996, to get my attention. And what a collection of music this is! 29 Tracks! The Cd might be a bit tough to track down now, but quite available in MP3 format. It's exciting, energetic, youthful joyous, punk rock, in the style of contemporaries like The Replacements, Husker Du, but in their own distinctive torturedly tuneful style. Of great bands that are by all accounts criminally uncelebrated, these guys are at the top of the heap in my opinion. If you have never heard this band before, do yourself a favor....grab this music immediately. I felt like Indiana Jones when I first heard this music, like I uncovered some lost holy artifact from another era.

This collection covers pretty much everything they released aside from their only album, the eponymous album released by Rock Hotel, which is a pretty good record and worth owning also. But the recordings on Green Fields are raw and ready, including some live performance and covers, like Mary Ann with The Shaky Hands, and Tim Hardin's Red Balloon. They even do a short take on Men Without Hats with Pop Goes the World. I thought they were having a little fun at the expense of MWH, but it turns out that they were friends with the band. The lead singer even helped finance and produced their first Ep, Sell Out Young. And I do mean young; when this band started out Alex was only 12!

Like a lot of my very favorite albums, it's pretty much all great. But Scratches and Needles is one of my favorite songs ever. It gives me a rush like the rush when I listen to a raucous Mission of Burma tune.





But there is so much here, the fierce Give Me Time, the white hot When Love Puts on a Sad Face, or the energetic Bandito Callin'. Though I have a preference for Scratches and Needles, In Betweens might actually be the best thing on this disc. But now I am listening to the anthemic Fountains, and my opinion in the last sentence is in doubt....



Another secret classic is Daylight, the song from where this comp's title derived.

Let's pretend we were joyful
Like Green Fields in Daylight......

The Nils definitely made some powerful, powerful music. I often wished that there was more. Of course the Nils as we know it will never reform, because Alex took his own life in 2004. Tragedies like this seem to happen all too much with talented musicians. Last year however, The Title is the Secret Song was released, a collection of unreleased music by the band, a CD/DVD, available through the bands website. I don't have it yet, but if it is comparable to what I own by them, well, maybe it will be my Christmas present to myself. It seems that Carlos Soria is rehearsing with some people, so there will be some Nils shows occurring. Any appreciation these guys can get is sorely deserved. There is even a tribute album to the band out which includes tracks by Punchbuggy, Down By Law and the Stand GT.

But if you are interested in getting a hold of some great music, I unabashedly recommend this album. Green Fields in Daylight is a classic 80's post punk mother lode. This should be an ubiquitous part of any respectable music collection in the same way The Buzzcocks Singles Going Steady is. The fact that so few people know about this band is an abomination. Listening to this album really makes me really happy, and if I can get even a handful of more people on the Nils bandwagon I will be even happier!!! They were definitely one of the best bands of their era, so track this comp down in any format ASAP.