New to Us, New to You / Twin Shadow
Words by Vicki
Sometime last October, I was at Brillobox, watching a friend’s band finish up their set. They were the opening act that night; the headliner was called Twin Shadow, and I’d never heard of them. I wasn’t really interested in hearing this band, but it was cold outside and there was PBR nearby, so I stayed to watch Twin Shadow take the stage. A quick hello and introduction from their Freddie Mercury-esque frontman, and POW — Twin Shadow unleashed a burst of noise that grabbed the room’s attention with the first note.
Twin Shadow / Castles in the Snow
Twin Shadow / Slow
Turns out the frontman is George Lewis, Jr., and he IS Twin Shadow. His debut album, Forget, was released in the fall of 2010, produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor and released on his label, Terrible Records. The album is a wormhole to the 80s, with a synthy, new wave sound that also packs in a lot of funk. But while many of these jams are fast-paced, they aren’t happy; on the track “Slow,” Lewis sings, “I don’t wanna believe, or be, in love.” The synths are used to create an almost ominous, creepy vibe, and the lyrics seem very personal and paint a picture of an artist battling insecurities. On “Castles in the Snow” he says “I’m your famous nightmare,” and claims “Everything I touch goes cold.”
If I’d heard the album first, I might have wondered how it would translate into a live show, given the drum machine and synth-heavy production , but the tracks translate well with the addition of a four-piece backup band. Adding a live drummer in place of the drum machine lends an uppity, nervous energy to the songs, leaving the rest of the band members racing to keep up. This urgency is the real attention-grabber, and Lewis adds some seriously awesome guitar solos, showing he can do more than just arrange electronic sounds—he can really shred.
Twin Shadow has been touring extensively since that October show. They’ve hit up some big festivals this summer, including Coachella, Sasquatch, Pitchfork, and Bonnaroo, where I caught their set again this past June. Though they played to a relatively small crowd, they had everyone grooving, and they sounded even tighter, undoubtedly due to all that touring. Spin named the show one of the 5 best sets of day one, no small feat considering there were roughly 30 acts that day.
The energy surrounding Twin Shadow seems to be growing and fans have been anticipating another album. The time has certainly come for a new set of tracks, and the band has been playing a couple new ones in their most recent shows. Stay tuned for the new album and in the meantime, check out the tunes above, and a live set recorded by NPR at the Sasquatch Music Festival to hear that attention-grabbing blast of sound. When the band comes through town again, I’ll be there, this time intentionally.
Twin Shadow on the Interwebs
Official Site
Facebook
Twitter
Filed under: New to Us, New to You?, Not Blake, Jim, or Brendan
Welcome, Vicki! Great post! Looking forward to reading more of your stuff!
Wonderful first story, Vicki! Maybe your article will aid in getting Twin Shadow back to Pittsburgh. (Likely in a bitter-sweet, less intimate venue)
Vicki – awesome first post. Glad to have you aboard.
Well said, Vicki!
I play in the band that was fortunate enough to open for Twin Shadow that night at Brillobox. We were also lucky enough to meet them afterwards and hang out for a bit. They were all great people. Then a few weeks later our bass player spent the night running around NYC with them after seeing an in-store performance of theirs at a record shop in Brooklyn.
At the time of the Pittsburgh gig, their drummer had only been part of the band for a few weeks, but you couldn’t tell at all from the quality of the performance. Then when I saw them again in Cleveland a few months later, they had improved noticeably compared to Brillobox. Last but certainly not least, Twin Shadow then seemingly found a new gear entirely at the Bonnaroo show. George & Co. seemed to really grasp the significance of the moment. All these songs that had such humble beginnings in the recording phase just sounded so massive in that particular environment.
Great post! I’ve seen them live as well, also on accident, and this showcased them perfectly. Awesome show to see with a PBR!