I first was introduced to this band by a really cool now defunct independent radio station here in the midwest. The song "Teenage Wristband" off the noir Blackberry Belle album by the Twilight Singers became the song of my autumn in the year 2003. It has such a yearing insatiable quality that whenever I hear it I want to speed recklessly down a wide open highway with no directions, and no plans.
I was thrilled when the TS came out with a new cd this year, named "Powder Burns", allegedly alluding to dark and mysterious singer Greg Dulli's lengthy history with narcotics. I somehow scored an advance copy. (don't ask, a Bond girl never reveals her source...) This newest effort is equally dark, equally insatiable, and might be TS' best effort yet. I had the pleasure of seeing TS in Columbus this past week. They didn't come on stage until right around my work night bedtime, but the set list proved well worth the next day's exhaustion. The set list was varied with songs old and new, quiet and rocking, dark and sexual. Those of you who ever loved the Afghan Whigs, Dulli's most mainstream effort would not have been disappointed with the 1990's era "alternative" Whig sound fused with R&B in a way only Greg Dulli could pull off.
Why you should love TS:
1. Dulli is a true showman, always entertaining, never canned
2. He's immensely talented as a writer, singer, pianist, and guitarist
3. The cd was recorded in New Orleans in the aftermath of the most famous storm ever
4. He's almost unexplainably sexy (is it the yearning voice? the bed head? the bad boy image and black clothes?)
for more reasons, see www.summerskiss.com
