Album: Wild Onion
Artist: Twin Peaks
Label: Permanent Records
Release Date: Aug. 5
Grade: A
In their second release, Twin Peaks creates a sound that combines the fiery angst of ‘60s garage rock akin to the Rolling Stones and The Who with the pure and youthful honesty of today’s punk. This quartet hailing from Chicago, Illinois has surely studied the archive of rock’s yesteryears.
In the album’s opener “I Found A New Way,” the band retrogrades back to the ‘60s with vocals that growl and rasp with a boyish raucous in the name of the New York City punk scene, channeling Iggy Pop and the Stooges.
From the 15 tracks, listeners will certainly determine this band has a sound filled to the brim with lo-fi punk rock spirit.
But there are many layers to this Wild Onion; the band explores themes of anxiety, loneliness and melancholy while creating an aural diving board into their world. The exploding punk rock chords make for a heavy impact comparably to cannon balling off the diving board, while lo-fi guitar riffs replicate the misty, haziness of sinking into the band’s world.
Lyrically, the band exhibits the dejected side of their world, where girls are the instigators of their problems. This is explored in “Sloop Jay D,” a tune rippling with surfer rock elements by the way of The Beach Boys and a chorus driven with the single syllable “Ba.”
The band demonstrates the careless side effects of heartbreak as they sing “I’m such a loser, my friends knew I’d lose her / I wake up with bruises cause now I’m a boozer.”
Those bruises may hit the heart, but soon they will start to fade as Twin Peaks ignite with exploding rock chords and boiling teenage angst in the song “Fade Away.”
The band proudly proclaims their method for getting over a past lover as they sing “Rise above it, get drunk in the daytime / I ride around my side of town, my hair in the breeze.”
Twin Peaks have perfected the art of letting go.
The album’s standout tracks “Strange World” and “Stranger World” are short with neither song reaching the 1:50 mark. But despite their length, they are packed with melodic guitar riffs and jazz horn sections that stand out among the other tracks and join the two songs together.
The band creates their world as they demonstrate their true experimental facets in both songs, creating a reality oozing with hazy, reverberated vocals and the sun bleached daydreams of ‘70s psychedelic rock that recalls Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.
The lesson being taught in Wild Onion seems to be: never judge a book by its cover, or age. The members of Twin Peaks aren’t a day over 20 years old, but their rock influences date back to generations twice their age. While listening to their music, one will fathom Twin Peaks knows their history very well.
However you look at it, Twin Peaks is still a young band but their acknowledgment to the music they pay homage to is both noted and appreciated in Wild Onion. This quartet of talented punk rockers is destined to reach the summit and their sophomore album is the next stop.
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