While recording their second album, Forget the Night Ahead, the Twilight Sad used everything from distortion pedals to the smacking
of fire distinguishers to cloak their music in haze. If you cut through
the fuzz and distortion, you start hearing really dark messages. Themes
of guilty consciences, the sad realities of prostitution and the loss
of loved ones infiltrate the album — a twisted storybook of
frontman James Graham’s experiences. But what’s most important is the
music that carries the lyrics. Graham said he wanted to make an album
that’s “big and noisy as fuck.” The Scottish band succeeded, piecing
together 11 songs as tuneful as they are loud.
“Scissors” is an evolving wall of noise, but the majority of
Forget evokes the Cure and other pioneers of ’70s goth-rock. The
bouncy “Reflection of the Television” features rubbery bass, echoing
drum hits and Graham’s deep, controlled vocals. The mostly instrumental
“Floorboards Under the Bed” would be Chris Martin’s wet dream if he
could tame the cacophonous electric guitar that shrouds creepy
minor-key piano clunking. Most of us keep a fire distinguisher handy to
put out flames; the Twilight Sad use theirs to keep ’em burning.
— Danielle Sills
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2009.
