The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead
Music blogs have had a funny old effect on music in this decade (or at the very least, the latter half of the decade). They’ve practically turned into another portal altogether for new bands to be heard and has, in effect, created a completely new hype machine. Bands now have reputations built by people who spend all their time on the net looking for something new and fresh and before you know it they become the darlings of such high-profile music websites such as Pitchfork and Stereogum before being exposed in the wider print and radio publications.
This explanation brings us nicely to the (I can only presume) poster boys of Kilsyth, Scotland, The Twilight Sad. The band have been darlings of the press on both sides of the Atlantic and have been widely acclaimed throughout their career, mostly through the online media and blogosphere. Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters, the band’s debut, was released to an enthusiastic response as people lapped up their dramatic and loud take on indie rock. The band have since done touring slots with bands like Snow Patrol, Smashing Pumpkins, and Mogwai to name but a few.
Forget The Night Ahead has been a very long time coming. In the two years since Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters the band have released a mini-album and a compilation of live, rare, and unreleased material so it isn’t like they’ve been lying low. It’s also of note to say that, in a break from the norm, this record isn’t out in the UK yet (you have to wait until the 5th October to buy it), but it is already out in the USA. It’s a big record that is sweeping in its thick walls of loud guitar, but amidst all the chaos and noise there is a sense of clarity.
The good news is that people who enjoyed the previous album will find a lot of things to enjoy on the sophomore album. Reflection Of The Television is a mighty start whilst I Became A Prostitute, the album’s first single proper, is powerful, catchy and with an epic, towering guitar riff that powers the song forward. Seven Years Of Letters brings James Graham’s thick, Scottish pronunciation to the fore against pounding drums, whilst Floorboards Under The Bed is one of the quieter moments, alongside The Room, led by piano. Interrupted and The Neighbours Can’t Breathe are songs that fall in between, reflective but not going all out either.
However, there is a nagging thought in my brain that thinks that this band can do a bit better. There are definitely a good number of songs that rank among some of the best that this band have ever made but maybe we’ve fallen to ‘expectations are too high syndrome’. Well, it could be, but I do feel this album lacks something that would give it an extra dimension to make it an essential purchase. Let me get this straight – Forget The Night Ahead is a pretty good album and not a crushing disappointment by any means. This is certainly better than a lot of other indie rock and I still think that Twilight Sad are one of the best bands to come out of the Scottish isles in recent years. If you’re new to these guys then this album is not a bad starting point.
RATING – 3/5
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Posted on September 24th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Albums, Reviews
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