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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Twilight Singers pick up where "Blackberry Belle" left off, May 21, 2006
The Twilight Singers, essentially singer-songwriter Greg Dulli's continuation of the Afghan Whigs (who disbanded after its last album in 1998), issued one of 2003's best albums, "Blackberry Belle", which they then followed with the not very interesting all-covers album "She Loves You" the next year.
"Powder Burns" (12 tracks, 49 min.) picks up the thread nicely from "Blackberry Belle". The sound and themes are familiar: loneliness, despair, yet somewhere also hope. After a short instumental intro, the album crashes into you with "I'm Ready", an arena-sized rocker. The first half of the album is almost flawless, with "Bonnie Brae" and "Forty Dollars" as the other standouts, the latter containing many Beatles references (and, yes, a shout-out to "She Loves You, Yea, Yea Yea"!). On the slower tracks, such as "Candy Cane Crawl" and "The Conversation", I can't help but be reminded of Peter Gabriel's sound somehow. The second half of the album is not as intense, although the title track is quite mesmerising (and intense!), with a hope-lifiting outro of ocean waves crashing.
It's still a mystery to me why the Afghan Whigs, with all their critical acclaim, were never able to cross into mainstream-alternative success. Greg Dulli, however, has not looked back, and continues to make outstanding albums, now with the Twilight Singers. And if you have the chance to catch these guys live, don't miss them, the Twilight Singers' shows are an experience!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
....................................................................................................................., May 16, 2006
With everything thats happened in New Orleans the past 9 months it's hard for anyone who has been through that not to be floored by this record. Like Blackberry Belle, the city drips from this record. From the death of his closest friend Ted Demme
to the near total devestation of one of his beloved haunts, all the while struggling with his own inner addictions, Dulli works
magic under tragedy. It's hard not to see utter destruction and
human tragedy when that wall of sound hits in Bonnie Brae or
feel that misplaced daylight in Theres Been An Accident. The strongest tracks in my opinion has to be the brutal honest Candy
Cane Crawl and I Wish I Was both of which with the right mixture can bring you to tears.This album is not as immediate
as some of his other work. But as these tracks unwind themselves
and the story blooms you'll be gasping for air. Do yourself a
favor pick this up and for GOD SAKE go see them live.I hope Greg
makes albums as long as he can breathe
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Proof that music ain't dead yet., July 23, 2006
There are people out there listening to the radio. They want to be rescued. Long since tired of riding dirty on a honkytonk badonkadonk that makes one want to la-la, there are some that would argue that Y2K was really the day the music died. (If not even sooner, but those folks didn't like Nirvana, Alice in Chains or Soundgarden. Go figure.)
Well, anyone who's heard "Gentlemen" or "Congregation" or any other record by the Afghan Whigs should be yelling "Rescue me, Dulli!" And on "Powder Burns," Greg's delivered the goods.
Possibly the most soul-infused yet forward-thinking rock record since the Whigs' "Black Love," the new Twilight Singers record still shouldn't be construed as an Afghan Whigs album without the name. Despite Dulli wearing lead singer shoes, which definitely aids in stamping any project with a signature raspy-throated, tunelessly-endearing sound, the backing band and instrumentation are a far cry from the rabies-inflicted punk animal that was the Whigs. Sure, it's dirty, dirty, grungy blues-rock, but one might be surprised what creeps into a song here and there. "Bonnie Brae" is a melancholy headbanger that could almost be called blue-collar shoegaze. Piano and violin pepper tracks like "There's Been An Accident," while rushing, watery electronic influence is lovingly splashed here and there, most obviously on the intro piece "Toward the Waves"/"I'm Ready."
Of course to think ahead, people usually end up looking back to see how good music was made in the first place. Dulli liked smashing Beatles riffs around on his covers record so much that he's taken to purloining lyrics, too, reframing the timeless refrain of "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah" with a derisive sneer and a cranky guitar din ("Forty Dollars").
Not every word on "Powder Burns" is an homage, however. Lyrically, Dulli has always struck me as a singing Charles Bukowski. Sometimes it's exactly who you need to hear from to fall asleep at night when you're too bleary-eyed to read.
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