Twilight Sad - Scala 29/10/09

Twilight Sad are a band that have featured quite regularly on the Middle Boop site recently, mainly because they play truly brilliant music, also because they are damned nice guys and we are certainly not the only people who think so judging by the fact that a mere few months ago before the release of their publicly lauded second album 'Forget The Night Ahead' they were playing The Lexington and the ICA which, although no one could fault that these are both great venues they are half the size of the Scala, a venue which they have packed out pretty well for tonight's show.

Missing the first band 'Talons' we arrived just in time to watch Airship, who showed promise with their first song, an atmospheric number that built up to a heavy distorted chorus but sadly the rest of the set transcended into radio friendly indie pop and although it was pleasant to listen to, it was nothing new.

After a fair old wait we were finally graced with the presence of Twilight Sad who have clearly become a lot more comfortable playing their new material live since the last time I saw them, opener 'Reflections Of The Television,' singles 'I Became A Prostitute' and 'Seven Years Of Letters' were played with such intensity it was hard not to become completely immersed in their sound.

Twilight Sad have an interesting presence on stage, considering the aggressive music they play, the bass player and keyboardist hardly break a sweat with the most movement seen by either was to take a swig of beer between songs which I'm sure is mostly due to their high levels of concentration in making sure every song is note perfect but nonetheless the showmanship is left to lead singer James Graham who tackles this task in a rather unorthodox fashion, singing each song without any eye contact on the crowd and slamming his mike stand repeatedly with the music whilst occasionally grabbing some drum sticks and basing the hell out of a snare along with the drummer, he is still generally humbled by the crowds participation and affection for the music.

This was a benchmark performance by a band who are most certainly going from strength to strength, the pounding drums and screeching guitars were affluent from start to finish and with their finale 'I'm Taking The Train Home' making sure that if anyone hadn't been deafened up until that point, they certainly were after that.
Thanks to these guys I have now started to wear ear plugs at gigs.

The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead

Finally the wait is over, 'Forget the Night Ahead' is out today. The Twilight Sad have been one of my highlights this year, being properly introduced to them earlier in the year at a One Little Indian/Fatcat night at the ICA where they played with We Were Promised Jetpacks and I was blown away by everything I saw.
Being a keen follower ever since the gig I gave this album a little bit of time to properly sink in because I wanted to give it the justice it deserves.
These guys are all about the live sound which is something I felt didn't come across as well in their first album but that was only after witnessing the spectacle of The Twilight Sad's live show and seeing just what they offered. With Forget the Night Ahead whatever they've done in the studio is working because this album is brilliant!
I don't know how they've done it but they've actually got an album of Post-Rock songs that are catchy, the mix of James Graham's (now trademark) vocals with Andy MacFarlane's multi multi effected guitar get me on every song on this album. Aggressive in parts, beautiful in others, from the first song 'Reflection of the Television' starting with those pounding drums building up to the delayed, distorted, reverbed and god knows what else guitars and then moving straight into their latest single 'I Became A Prostitute' (Middle Boop single of the week a while ago) which is five minutes of epic guitars the likes of which you may well have never heard and the strangely catchy chorus that you could just play all day and still want to listen to more. But they are not always about the heavy effects and loudness, track six 'The Room' is one of the highlights of the album and the main focus is much more on the melancholy piano lines and the emotional (not emo) lyrics and strong vocal talents of James Graham.
Twilight Sad are a band that people are really starting to catch onto over here and it's no surprise, there just isn't anyone else playing music this good at the moment.

Twilight Sad - The Lexington

The Lexington is quickly becoming a legendary venue in London. Having only been open a year or so it has already played host to some brilliant up and coming gigs, recently the likes of Women and Au have both played outstanding sets. Tonight was Twilight Sad's turn, playing a one off gig in London before jetting off for an extensive tour of America, the country where they initially made their name.
Despite a limit on the sound which could be a problem for a band like Twilight Sad who are known for creating huge walls of sound but it didn't seem to matter as they exploded into opener 'Reflections Of The Television' with pounding drums and atmospheric guitars and a catchy chorus sang in James Graham's heavy Glaswegian accent which built up to an epic, distorted guitar finish sucking the crowd in straight away and not letting up until they had finished.
The material from their hotly anticipated new album sounded great among the classics such as 'Walking For Two Hours' and 'And She Would Darken The Memory' and displayed a sense of refinement in their already amazing sound without losing any of their initial spark and if anything sounding a damned site louder, with songs such as 'I Became A Prostitute' already seeming to be fan favourites and the guys seem really happy with what they have achieved and taken aback by the kudos they have been given.
This intense performance was a triumphant return to London and on the back of this I can't wait to hear their new album or see them when they come back later on in the year to play bigger venues.