Call me biased, but I’m always a little bit more favourably pre-disposed towards bands from Glasgow than others. I mean, given two very similar bands, I’m probably going to give the one from Glasgow a fairer hearing than the one that’s not. Maybe it’s because that when I got into music for the first time in the early 90s, I was both in Glasgow and enjoying the many great bands around there at the time. It was a good time for music.
Now it’s not a rule that can be generally applied (I didn’t give the Fratellis much time and I was right not to) but it has made me more receptive to The Twilight Sad, a new band from ‘just outside of Glasgow’. On first listen, their debut album Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters is fairly unremarkable stuff. Decent, noisy, melodic indie guitar rock, which though listenable, doesn’t have many unique or particularly interesting features to make it stand above the rest of the indie murk. If they hadn’t been from Glasgow, I might just have left it there. But a few weeks later I listened again. And again. And now I’m beginning to quite like it.
Maybe it’s the unembarrassed, clearly Scottish accent of singer James Graham – in the fine tradition of The Proclaimers and Arab Strap (a band they’re very likely to be compared to), Graham’s rolled Rs are there for all to hear. Maybe it’s the intensity – there’s clearly some emotion gone into this – and it’s not only evident in the vocals and lyrics. Maybe it’s the way that they freely borrow from their city’s rich musical heritage – as well as Arab Strap, the pleasing noisy dynamic of Mogwai is there, as is the rough melodic edges of their early 90s forebears.
Whatever it is, I’m liking it, even if listening to the whole album all the way through is still making me run out of patience a bit. My conversion could be complete though when I get to see them live (at least at the End of the Road Festival, if not before), as there have been some glowing reports of their gigs. We’ll see. In the meantime, try a couple of tracks. They might whet your appetite for more.
Download: The Twilight Sad – Talking With Fireworks / Here, it Never Snowed
Download: The Twilight Sad – Walking for Two Hours
Buy Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters.
Now it’s not a rule that can be generally applied (I didn’t give the Fratellis much time and I was right not to) but it has made me more receptive to The Twilight Sad, a new band from ‘just outside of Glasgow’. On first listen, their debut album Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters is fairly unremarkable stuff. Decent, noisy, melodic indie guitar rock, which though listenable, doesn’t have many unique or particularly interesting features to make it stand above the rest of the indie murk. If they hadn’t been from Glasgow, I might just have left it there. But a few weeks later I listened again. And again. And now I’m beginning to quite like it.
Maybe it’s the unembarrassed, clearly Scottish accent of singer James Graham – in the fine tradition of The Proclaimers and Arab Strap (a band they’re very likely to be compared to), Graham’s rolled Rs are there for all to hear. Maybe it’s the intensity – there’s clearly some emotion gone into this – and it’s not only evident in the vocals and lyrics. Maybe it’s the way that they freely borrow from their city’s rich musical heritage – as well as Arab Strap, the pleasing noisy dynamic of Mogwai is there, as is the rough melodic edges of their early 90s forebears.
Whatever it is, I’m liking it, even if listening to the whole album all the way through is still making me run out of patience a bit. My conversion could be complete though when I get to see them live (at least at the End of the Road Festival, if not before), as there have been some glowing reports of their gigs. We’ll see. In the meantime, try a couple of tracks. They might whet your appetite for more.
Download: The Twilight Sad – Talking With Fireworks / Here, it Never Snowed
Download: The Twilight Sad – Walking for Two Hours
Buy Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters.
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4 comments:
I actually found this record pretty amazing on the first listen, and love it even more now, but that's just me.
Persever, it's well worth it. That's my favourite album of the year by now. Live is significantly worth it as well.
EotR is looking really, really good - the lineup just gets better and better.
The Twilight Sad are fantastic and, although I agree the record takes a few listens, there are still a couple of tracks I don't really like that much. All in all though, excellent.
there’s clearly some emotion gone into this – and it’s not only evident in the vocals and lyrics.
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