Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps

  by Tom Fogarty

published: 28 / 9 / 2011

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'Dynamite Steps' is the fifth album from the Twilight Singers, who are fronted by Greg Dulli and were formed after the demise of his 90's soul-rock act, the Afghan Whigs. The album also marks the end of a five year hiatus, their last album being 2006's 'Powder Burns'. The first thing that strikes you about this album is the packaging. Great care has gone into creating something attractive, and is the first hint as to what is the intention of 'Dynamite Steps'. Dulli has undoubtedly made an effort to impress here, but does the music stand up to this? Lyrically dark, and not sounding too dissimilar to Soundgarden, Dulli has created an album that is both energetic and hungry, yet somehow displays an element of restraint. The guitars drift from soulful blues (as he did in the 90s and beyond) into near punk-like frenzy. Now in his mid 40's, and despite the gap between albums, Dulli is something of a veteran of the scene, and this can be heard to some extent in 'Dynamite Steps'. The music here is reliable – not experimental – but that is no bad thing. Dulli sticks to what he is good at, but you never get the feeling that he is simply going through the motions here. So, musically and lyrically sound, 'Twilight Burns' is sturdy enough. Dulli is a confident musician and clearly comfortable doing what he does, even if the content is at times thematically dark. Even so, after such a lengthy wait for an album, you can’t help expecting something slightly more. Dulli treads familiar ground in the very angry sounding 'Never Seen No Devil' and duets with Ani DiFranco on 'Fox and The Blackbird'. For me, the album’s highlight is the combination of 'Gunshots/She was Stolen', running together well, almost like an 'Abbey Road' sequence of musical narrative. Fans will love this for sure, which is a far superior album to 'Powder Burns', but newcomers may be left wondering what all the fuss in the 1990s was about.

Track Listing:-

1 Last Night In Town
2 Be Invited
3 Waves
4 Get Lucky
5 On The Corner
6 Gunshots
7 She Was Stolen
8 Blackbrid And The Fox
9 Never Seen No Devil
10 The Beginning Of The End
11 Dynamite Steps

Label Links:-

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http://subpop.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/subpoprecords

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