The Twang - 10-20 (2012)

Indie rock band from Quinton, Birmingham, England formed in 2001.

10:20, the third album from Brummy bunch The Twang was released on October 29 . Titled after a passive-aggressive note left by a studio neighbour (see album cover), the latest LP from The Twang was the result of a year’s worth of isolation, writing and recording at said offensive studio. It might come as a shock to realise it’s been eight years since their debut release (or maybe that’s just me?), but as bands grow and music changes over the best part of any decade, The Twang seemed to have been forgotten somewhere in the noughties. Gems like Either Way and Two Lovers are foreign to newer indie-lovers. But is new effort 10:20 enough to kickstart them back on the scene?

The lead single from the album Mainline is decidedly a bit different to previous efforts. It sounds a bit like they’ve been hanging about round Jon McClure’s for too long. It’s up to you to decide whether or not that’s a good thing, but we’ve already got one Reverend out there, I’m not sure we need any more Makers.

However as the album progresses, we see a return to form with the usual laid back indie approach to love and hate which make The Twang so hard to dislike. Lyrics are both reflective and introspective, as is conveyed brilliantly in Last Laugh where ‘Dreams become decades/You can ease the pain/Light turns to shade/Then back again’.

It features songs which drift off the mainstream indie tunes of obligatory brilliant drunken times and instead includes previous single Guapa, about a rebel soldier falling in love, and We’re A Crowd, which was written in response to the UK’s summer riots in 2011. But there’s also a track titled Beer, Wine and Sunshine, just in case you thought they were getting a bit too serious for you.

All in all, a good third effort that probably deserves more praise and attention that The Twang have been receiving lately. Well worth a listen.