I'm truly sorry -- going with the twin lions of Persepolis was much too tempting on this one.
Twin Lion – “Safest in Bear Hugs” MP3/download
Twin Shadow, Twin Crystals, Twin Sister Moon, Twin Stumps, Orange Twin Records and now Twin Lion; I can diggit, especially since the “Awesome Power” cassette is a gangbuster many of you missed the first time around (and I believe Family Time still has a few copies left).
“Safest in Bear Hugs” will serve as the launchpad to this review since it’s the song I’ve chosen to share with you. Then again, now that you’re listening need I say more? “Bear Hugs” aptly encompasses what I see as Twin Lion’s strengths: instrumental dexterity coupled with experimental tendencies. The two meld together like lava, magma and rock, producing a woozy, winding effect that’s not, at some junctures, unlike The Boggs, a Cali beneath-ground juggernaut, or Chin Up Chin Up or any other arpeggio-obsessed group with a decent backbeat and a lowbrow — in the best-possible way — lead singer.
I also get drafts of the new generation of blokes bandying about with all manner of addictive audio recipes, including Ganglians, Woodsman and Wavves; even Ariel Pink comes into the picture in what proves to be more a variety show than a classic showcase. The good thing about a band like this is you guarantee yourself a serviceable live experience because, unlike a lot of the tape/backpacker/ski-hat-wearing kidz, Twin Lion can play. Not only that, they possess the restraint to continually serve their songs.
Back to the vocals, as there are moments wherein I find myself getting lost in them. It’s that almost speak-sing style I’d attribute first and foremost to Nathan Williams, but there’s no fuzz killing the cola-buzz; by today’s standards these boys are clean-as-a-whistle-sharp-as-a-thistle, letting their ability shine over studio dynamics. I also hear John Lennon. That seems ridiculous to say, so I’ll explain: Lennon used to affect, at times, a boozy baritone, as on the titular — as in, “I need a fix ’cause I’m goin’ down” — line from “Happiness is a Warm Gun” and several other Beatles tunes. There exist trace amounts of that gruff presence; to couple that with seismic jams such as that of “Waves and Waves and Waves of” (at least I think that’s the one — tapes present difficulties in finding specific tracks) can be crippling.
It’s like a few chillwavers got tired of samples, douche pedals and beat-makers and found that they actually sounded GOOD when they got rid of their many crutches. Along with groups like Norse Horse, Smith Westerns and Medications, in subconscious unision with The Olivia Tremor Control reissue campaign (another influence I should have mentioned, plus I finally got Dusk at Cubist Castle on vinyl) and other like minds it’s not impossible to think a small ROCKlamation is coming in 2012 to usher in the cruel death that awaits religious people (I, on the other hand, have been saved by science).
To take it even further, what happens when kids baking audio like “Awesome Power” to cassette get into bands like Panoply Academy Legionnaires and Desperate Bicycles? Fuckin’ sick, man — I’ll look forward to that silently, until it happens.
