The nagging feeling that The Coral rushed the recording of their second album without having amassed a really meaty selection of songs isn't alleviated by the arrival of Nightfreak..., 11 songs rather bizarrely classed as a mini album (see also Erykah Badu's similarly disingenuous Worldwide Underground)—presumably by a label keen that this not be seen as an official follow-up. There are some diverting moments—most notably the sparse, languid funk of "Grey Harpoon"—but generally the sense is still of a bunch of tasteful influences (The Doors, natch, Nuggets-ish psych/garage) and some well chosen chords failing to coalesce into something with real emotional weight. Nightfreak... is little more than a bunch of B-sides in search of a point.

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