By setting myself the New Year’s Resolution to blog more, it would appear that I have condemned myself to a blog-less year, along with all the guilt that comes with a broken resolution. What I thought would be fairly easy to fulfill has turned into many months of lost/uninspiring motivation.
I have had a few life changes (job related) but it’s no excuse really. So on this relatively ordinary morning I find my blogging self resurrected. With the theme of resurrection in mind, today is a music post of rekindling lost musical loves – namely my complicated love affair with Twin Atlantic*.
I was first introduced to Twin Atlantic many years ago. When I first heard the Scottish band, with their thick accents and rock tone, I wasn’t totally convinced. Some of their songs can be quite hard and harsh and at the time I thought them to be an acquired taste. And that taste, it would appear, I acquired.
A few years later I went to Reading festival and in my typical festival preparation I sought to listen to many bands, creating a playlist based on the acts announced and hopeful to discover some new music. In the mix that year I found Twin Atlantic and so remembering their name from days past, I looked up a few of their songs – and that’s when it first fell into place. ‘Crash Land’ made an appearance in my life and I shortly sent my festival friends the link and said that we must go see them at Reading. With my interest peaked, I delved into their most played tracks and found I became fairly fond of them.
Along came Reading and I checked the times of my favourite bands to make sure I was ready. Twin Atlantic played the main stage that year – around the afternoon time which is perhaps not the best slot but main stage none the less. To my horror, I found I was severely disappointed. Sam McTrusty, the lead singer, swore with every other word (also exclaiming his manager had vetoed this behaviour and his response was ‘fuck it!’). Now I am no angel but even I felt it unnecessary. But worst of all, I felt their live play did not match their recorded music. I was so disappointed with the performance I actually left to see another band! Bad, bad times.
The bitter taste resonated for so long, I gave up my claim to liking their music and shut them down once more.
It was again a year later that I found they reappeared in my musical mind. I was looking for some music to entertain me during the monotony of archiving and I found myself listening to ‘Crash Land’. I had forgotten its softness, the adorable way the Scottish accent is so prominent and I found myself listening to it over and over – an act I reserve only for songs I adore. I then found myself playing a few other songs, which I was surprised to find that I knew well. It would seem, once upon a time, I had really liked them. I battled with this revelation, claiming I was still angry at their performance and that I didn’t really like them. But I found myself going back for more day after day and the music always put me in a good mood.
So when I got my new job, and I needed some music to entertain me on my new found commuter journey, I decided the natural choice would be Twin Atlantic’s album ‘Free’ (actually their second released album but that which had all the songs I knew best). It was cheap, a mere £5, and so I went ahead.
I have not looked back.
*Twin Atlantic (‘TA’)
Let me tell you a little about the band:-
Classified as ‘alternative’ on iTunes (vague – many thanks for that), I would say TA are a rock/pop rock band.
The band formed in February 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland (their names being inherently Scottish – Sam McTrusty, Barry McKenna, Ross McNae & Craig Kneale).
Similar bands/sounds are the likes of Biffy Clyro, You me at Six and Fall Out Boy. TA have released 3 albums since their formation in 2007 (their debut being ‘Vivarium’) and have supported bands such as Biffy Clyro and Blink-182 on tour.
It seems that they have been steadily picking up publicity, in particular, in connection with their new album ‘The Great Divide’. This is evident as it appears to be the main topic of articles I have read surrounding the band. However, amongst the album press I have discovered (thanks to an article from the Scottish Herald) something which has made me like them all the more – one of the band (Barry McKenna) plays the cello! He was classically trained, a member of the RSAMD and has been playing the cello since the age of 7. I have always had a fondness of bands that use alternative instruments from the norm in their music (Yellowcard, with their violin, for example). It adds a musical dimension that is rare amongst other rock bands. This instrument was used effectively in TA’s recent live lounge performance of Sia’s ‘chandelier’.
Here is the song that changed my mind on so many occasions:-
But, although it is clear that ‘Crash Land’ was the song that taught me to love the band, my favourite song is now:-
That’s all for now folks. Let’s hope it’s not a year until my next post 🙂
(The following are links from which I sourced information and drew inspiration:- Articles:- http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/music/twin-atlantic-reveal-their-parallel-lives.19225301 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Atlantic; Images:- https://plus.google.com/+TwinatlanticOfficial; http://softconcretemag.com/2014/12/19/twin-atlantic-announces-2015-shows/; http://mancunion.com/2014/11/26/interview-twin-atlantic/; Videos:- http://www.youtube.com – ‘Crash Land’ & ‘Wonder Sleeps Here’)
Seams & Sounds 