OH MY GOD!
I'm just fucking walking on sunshine. Imagine witnessing something that you feel is one of the best things you're eyes could've witnessed in an evening. Like, something you want burned in your memory forever so that in times when you're lost or upset you can just return to that moment in time when you felt like nothing else mattered in this world. I had this happen to me tonight. It was this loud primal event. A wall of sound knocking me over. A spectical. I feel like I've fallen in love again.
I went to see the Twilight Sad, whom despite their horribly misguiding name, are not a cutter's band. Rather, they're a Scottish band comprised of four ... boys? men? they looked so young to me... they looked like they met via school paper ad where someone was looking to start a band with people whose major influences were Idlewild, Joy Division, Nirvana, and Mogwai. They sound like they clumsily stumbled upon a group dynamic and sound whose inexperience almost resembles a Boy-era U2. Which is to say that this is all still quite new to them and therefore they havent learned or accepted the boring rules of rock'n'roll.
Every member was a stand out partner in this group. From their drummer's apparent adoration of his bass drum and tom, to the guitarist's mogwai-influenced wall of sound, to the bassist's thoughtful bass lines that were more akin to Peter than Carlos. Then there is the singer.
I think that a big part of what makes a band stand out is the way the singer can be a protagonist for the songs. It's not so much about understanding what they're about or decifering their message as much as it's about opening up a piece of their soul so that you can be invited into the moment when they felt a certain way, and being allowed to re-experience that moment with them. The singer of the Twilight Sad did that. He did it and a rush went through my body as if i was going through it all myself. A scream that's energy is strong enough to carry over the sounds of the instruments even when the microphone is 5 feet away, and still never get heard... seeing him do that, something i've been wanting to do for a couple months, made me feel fufilled. I think i might be in love.... but i said that already. I just can't believe how amazing they are.
Oh, and I'd be doing everyone a huge disservice by not mentioning the fact that the singer could've played Ian Curtis / could've been Ian Curtis in a former life. Replace epileptic fits with rolling his eyes to the back of his head and you've got it.
8 comments:
Is this the band that you and Karen were foaming at the ears for when I showed up at Siren Festival earlier this summer?
I think it is...?
and here i thought this was going to be about the new radiohead release.
hey! you djed a party i went to on friday night, the vice sponsored one? i danced like an idiot and talked to you briefly as you were leaving to exchange blog info. here's the link to mine: http://dailybarf.typepad.com
again, your set was awesomeeee! it was my dreeeam dance situation.
gurj, this is the band that makes me weep and want to marry in the same breath. james is early roddy/ian curtis bundled in a package of delicious noise. omfg twilight sad guy in a tshirt mmmmmmm..........
ahh yes that's right Karen, I didn't mean "foaming at the ears" at all. I meant "foaming between the legs"
that last picture looks like montouri without pupils-nailzx
yeah nailz! i see that as well. i guess that would explain my attraction to him.
Rolling his eyes back off thats awesome.
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