Twilight Singers

July 31, 2007 | Filed Under Music |

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Remember Greg Dulli and the Afghan Whigs? For a time they were one of the most exciting and frustrating bands around. When they were hot (like on Gentlemen or the beginning of 1965), no one could touch them. But there were also many misfires – songs that didn’t quite go anywhere. Half-baked material. Half-baked concerts. Then they were gone.

A brief Google search for Mr. Dulli found him fronting a band called the Twilight Singers and releasing their 2006 album “Powder Burns”. I have had this on my iPod for a while and it just gets better with every spin. This is a whole record – solid from start to finish. Notes on the website say it was started at the lowest ebb in his life and eventually saw Mr. Dulli turn himself around during the recording. The album was completed in the French Quarter soon after Katrina. That’s why a tinge of darkness – twilight, if you will – strokes all these songs. It is some of his best work and the band is phenomenal! Muscular guitars, propulsive rhythm section, a cushion of strings here, a flourish of sax there, and Dulli’s smoky vocals squeezing every ounce of drama from the lyrics. From the opening licks of “I’m Ready” to the blistering “Bonnie Brae” (featured on last season’s Rescue Me) to the gorgeous “The Conversation” and ending with “They Ride”. Mr. Dulli is on his game and THAT is cause for celebration. People – This is what rock albums USED to be like before everything became lame and whiny. Screw the Shins, Wilco and their ilk.

Buy it and hope they tour.

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1 comment so far
  1. Tommy August 2, 2007 5:58 am

    YES! Powder Burns is awesome. Screw the Shins indeed.