Powder Burns the verdict on the new The Twilight Singers has already been very artfully and articulately declared over at cokemachineglow, and i don't pretend to want to replicate it. you should go and read about it there, actually - Craig did a fantastic job letting his imagination delve into the deep and dark corners of this album, of the psyche behind it, and of the reaches of unhappy influences on the making of the album. i will not go there and i will not repeat the same band bio you could read on any other website or review.

instead i chewed on the new album and let it roll around under my tongue for minute, and watched what came out. i like it immensely - its dark parts tend to loop themselves into the little seams of your brain and stay there - hibernate like Tolkein's dragons and lull you into an LA heat-induced stupor. they seem very much a product of their hailings - LA, New Orleans, and Miami - and seem to combine the raw and desperate talent of the two former cities (there is a very strong New Orleans feel to this album) with the sexy heat of the latter. the sex appeal, of course, rubs off on you like the dark figure that always sits in the back of the class, smelling like a fresh cigarette and smacking black leather. i respect it in the way you respect that dark figure; i can only understand it as far as i can feel it, relate to it, touch it tangibly. this leaves a mysterious cloud above the whole thing, choking it in smoke and stinging everyone's eyes. Powder Burns seems to do just that - like the dark room at a house party, like the back ally of the outcast club, you'll find the best of the worst.

i suggest you get it. it's Greg Dulli - yeah, you know him, he's the former lead of Afghan Whigs, and he's basically honed his image on being a Johnny Cash-esque badass. it's his fourth with the Singers. it came out on One Little Indian May 16th - but i'm not late with this one, because these guys will need a lot more press before they've been fairly noticed. they're incredible, if only for the emotional response they manage to elicit with their work.

as always, i send you to Amp Camp to buy away.

::::the loveliness of mp3 madness: The Twilight Singers - There's Been An Accident  shan  12:50 PM  |  view comments (1)