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THE TWANG

The Twang

If Confronted Just Go Mad

    'If Confronted Just Go Mad' sees a fresh direction for The Twang and their first album to include vocals from new female vocalists, both of whom also perform for rising star Tom Grennan. The girls have become an instant hit with twang fans while providing the band with a new optimistic sound. The new album, mixed by Mint Royale legend Neil Claxton, is sure to satisfy the band’s loyal fan-base serving up large slices of the classic Twang emotion that has served them so well over the past decade. Songs confront the fragility of relationships, the lure of addiction, a cover of an eighties indie classic and even an appearance by leading spoken word artist Polarbear. Core writers Phil Etheridge and Jon Watkin have put real emotional energy into making the record, finding a new way of working together which has delivered a sound that feels authentic and exciting. If you get knocked down… just get up… If Confronted Just Go Mad! 

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Everytime
    2. Lovin State
    3. It Feels Like ( You're Wasting My Time)
    4. Million Miles
    5. Time Waits
    6. Dream
    7. Izal
    8. Went Walking
    9. Kingdom
    10. Tinseltown In The Rain
    11. Nothing Gets Better (Feat. Polarbear)

    The Twang

    Either Way, It's The Best Of The Twang

      The Twang have spent over a decade defying expectation. From their beginnings in their Birmingham home town, written off by most of the local scene as the band that wouldn’t make it, through a year of hype and madness and out the other side, they simply did what they had always done; kept making music and playing it to people. So, whilst a clutch of tracks on ‘Either Way, It’s The Best Of The Twang’ will be immediately familiar to anyone who was listening to Radio One in 2007, that triple whammy of playlist conquering songs that is ‘Either Way’, ‘Wide Awake’ and ‘Two Lovers’, some may be surprised to know that the album contains many more singles and album tracks that are regarded by those who have supported the band since that debut as their finest moments. The likes of ‘Barney Rubble’, ‘Encouraging Sign’ and ‘Took The Fun’ from ‘Jewellery Quarter’, a trio of tracks that perfectly demonstrate The Twang’s ability to move from cracking dance floor pop to tender love songs with heart melting choruses, show how the band’s musical trajectory post the hype of their debut was resolutely upward. Listen to ‘We’re A Crowd’ or ‘Mainline’ from third album 10:20 and you hear a band confident of their abilities and still pushing forward, adding flashes of Midlands ska and orchestration to songs that are unafraid to talk about wider issues. For The Twang were always more than they were painted.

      The Twang

      Neontwang

        ‘NEONTWANG’ was recorded in London at Rory Attwell’s Lightship95 with the Warm Brains man on production duties, a combination that has delivered the band’s strongest set of songs to date.

        ‘NEONTWANG’ also marks the full debut of new member Jon ‘Simmo’ Simkins as a full writing member of The Twang. Simmo was also the brains behind the video for album track ‘The Wobble’ which premiered on The Fly’s website in October who described it as ‘resembling Ariel Pink doing Tears For Fears’.

        ‘NEONTWANG’ marks an important moment for the band. Their fourth album, lead singer Phil Etheridge described making it as ‘easily the most fun we've had in the studio since before the band got a record deal’. Having lived through (and survived) the slings and arrows of (much) outrageous fortune, the band have found a space where they are back to the core values that have kept them together as a writing unit for over a decade.

        ‘NEONTWANG’ comprises a series of recordings that encompass light touch balladry, dub, trip hop and sunshine pop. That early leak of ‘The Wobble’ from the album points the way, a track that veers from delicate melody to overdriven industrial noise, it is the perfect pointer for an album that cares only for its own quality. Those who know their music may also note the echo of club culture, a constant driver for the band, in album closer ‘Bywyd Da’, with its reference to Inner City’s club classic ‘Good Life’. Welsh speakers (or users of Google translate) will get the joke.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. City Lights
        2. Larry Lizard
        3. New Love
        4. The Wobble
        5. Sucker For The Sun
        6. Almost Anything
        7. Happy Families
        8. Medicine
        9. Bigger Than You
        10. Step Away
        11. Bywyd Da

        The Twang

        10:20

          “We recorded the album in our own studio in Birmingham with our good friend Jon Simcox. As we built the studio ourselves, and were funding the record ourselves, we weren’t under any pressure to meet anyone else’s deadlines and had the freedom to work whenever and however we wanted without any record company hassle. We decided early on that we wanted the record to be more organic than our previous two albums so we’ve tried to be disciplined and strip away the layers and leave something natural and beautiful”.

          Lyrically 10:20 is reflective and often introspective, dealing with the problems that life throws at two people trying to live together. The album features the two earlier singles Paradise and Guapa (the story of a rebel soldier falling madly in love with a girl days before he is likely to meet his death in battle) and ‘We’re A Crowd’, a call to arms addressing what people can achieve when they join together in a positive way, and written at the height of the UK’s 2011 summer riots. The record also features a cover of the Durutti Column’s lost classic, Tomorrow - a nod to Factory Records back catalogue from fans discovering the beauty and desperation of that song for the first time.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. Neptune
          2. Mainline
          3. We’re A Crowd
          4. Take This On
          5. Last Laugh
          6. Beer Wine & Sunshine
          7. Paradise
          8. Whoa Man
          9. Tomorrow
          10. It Ain’t You
          11. Guapa
          12. Strangers

          The Twang

          Two Lovers

            "Two Lovers" is rightly regarded as one of the standout tracks on debut album "Love It When I Feel Like This" with NME proclaiming 'witness (singer Phil) Etheridge's dewy vocal and experience your spine shake' on this 'excellent, jangly, Smiths style ballad'.


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