Twin Atlantic -GLA Review
Your forming years are filled with awkward spine twisting moments. Times where your social life and under-bite both exist in hermitage. You need this time, to learn facts. Facts like chatting on mxit on the toilet can end in the loss of a phone, or that prawn buffets steal happiness from the next day. God forbid prawn buffet day before mxit on toilet day! As heart-breaking as it is, you grew out of that awkward space, and into the cool twenty-something/ you are today.
I dreaded doing the review for Twin Atlantic’s first single, No sleep, a few weeks ago. I wasn’t a fan and felt like I was going to thumb-suck my way through it. Boy, was I wrong! I’d sold them short. I’d made an assumption. Twin Atlantic has kicked off their head gear, lost the overbearing lisp and grew into GLA. The new album is their welcoming to manhood.
After listening to GLA, I feel we need to talk about the following few tracks:
The album kicks off with Golden Elephant: Cherry Alligator. “Kiss it real good, Kiss it real good.” This song KLAPS you. It almost feels as if it’s moering your core being. Removing little chips of cynicism with each drum beat. The thick baseline fades in and takes over your limbs. Suddenly you find yourself in a moshpit, in your own home, bumping tables and sliding around like Tom Cruise.
I feel Royal Blood in this. Sam McTrusty, the vocalist, finally sounds like a rockstar to me.
Next is No sleep. “I take pills and I drink alcohol. Ready or not, day dreaming’s got to stop.” This song reminds me of sleep-deprived break downs. You take pills and drink alcohol to chase the feeling away but it stays.
After getting all of THAT off my chest, You are the Devil begins. Their head gear returns slightly. Alongside Overthinking, the tempo slows down. As much as this is a contrast, I’m glad they gave a nod to their old sound.
Ex El has a haunting start. “People love their own voice more than anything. People laugh, people scream until you listen to them.” It might just be me but this song makes me feel like it’s alright to be yourself. It’s okay to be different. This is another fact you learn when growing up. I think Twin Atlantic had this feeling after the overwhelming success of Great Divide and it probably stayed with them through-out the creation of this album.
The band’s second single release, The Chaser, emphasises this. “I tried hard to believe Satisfaction is guilt and love all that is greed.” The theme of chasing unrealistic expectations bubbles up to the surface once more. I can see them writing this track after their first album meeting with the record executives. The guitar is playful. The drumming folds in smoothly. I can see myself scream-singing this in Jo’burg traffic.
All and all, this is a good album. If you are a Great Divide fan this might be a leap out of your comfort zone. But hey, that is where the magic happens. To all newbies and renowned Cynics: give this album a spin. It’s lekker. It’s good for your soul.
I give this album 7/10. It’s a Nelson Mandela giving Fracois Pienaar some Lays.
