Random Album Review #1

Each week I am going to write a short (under 200 word) review for an album from my collection chosen at random by iTunes. You can expect anything from Slayer to Salmonella Dub to (Ravi) Shankar and that is all part of the fun. Enjoy.

Week 1:  The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia (2008)
Country: USA / Folk, Blues, Rock

The Gutter Twins is the meeting of two lesser-known linchpins of the 90s alternative rock scene. The first is Greg Dulli of Afghan Whigs and later The Twilight Singers. The second is Mark Langean from Screaming Trees and frequent Queens Of The Stone Age collaborator. Both men are years removed from their popular day jobs but have found their own path in solo careers. In their first outing together they have made a compelling album full of morose but redemptive rock. Deliverance and damnation are never far from where the Gutter Twins go. The piano and drum driven ‘All Misery / Flowers’ is an album highlight that would be distressing if it weren’t so sweet to the ears. ‘Idle Hands’ ratchets up the hellish rock to 11 while album closer ‘Front Street’ leaves you on a pleasant note. It is rare to hear an entire album of duets between two men but Dulli’s croon and Lanegan’s impossible gruffness complement each other so well you wonder why more people don’t do it.

Rating: A

For fans of: Nick Cave, Tom Waits, The Twilight Singers