The Gutter Twins
By Tim Bugbee
Wednesday. May 14, 4:47 PM
live at Paradise (Boston, MA) March 18th, 2008.

Greg Dulli has made a career of singing about evils, vices, and the human frailties that surround them. Given his past, it's probably fair to say that for at least some of these astute observations, etched out in stark relief using song as a form, he's used the method acting approach. A fellow traveler in the mire is Mark Lanegan, who's also no stranger to the seedy side of things, but has driven out of the ditch and back onto the road. Last year's The Twilight Singers EP, featuring Mark guesting on a handful of tracks, has bloomed into a full-on collaboration, one thing which both men have incessantly sought out since they both left their original, full-time bands (The Afghan Whigs for Dulli, Screaming Trees for Lanegan). The second such combo to twist the original name convention of the Mick and Keef pairing as The Glimmer Twins (Joe and Steve first had dibs as The Toxic Twins), Greg and Mark led basically the same backing band as The Twilight Singers (only the drummer changed) back on the road in support of Saturnalia, their new record on Sub Pop.

Filled with brooding, dark-tinged material, the songs were an aural match for the dimly (barely?) lit stage populated by men clad in black, the only visual counterpoint being the brightly burning ends of their incessant Marlboros. The show started out exactly as the record, with "The Stations" leading into "God's Children" and "All Misery/Flowers," the starters being my two favorite songs off the record. The sour/sweet vocals of Dulli (providing the vinegar) and Lanegan (bringing the honey) hung heavily in the air, with additional textures furnished by Jeff Klein, alternating between keyboards and guitar as well as lending background vocals throughout. The set pulled heavily from the new record, with 10 of the 12 songs played (the setlist read "Eat a Peach", but it wasn't the Allmans chestnut and rather "Each to Each"). Despite the excellently chosen shakeup of "Circle the Fringes" where the waltz tempo blazed with a three guitar attack and Lanegan taking his first long solo vocal of the night, the crowd seemed like it was expecting more old, less new. This tepid indifference was not lost on Dulli, who after middling success to get a clap-a-long going, noted that Providence would likely see the next booking. "Hands up, this one's for Providence" was heard more than once as the show churned on. Compared to 2006's The Twilight Singers show, with virtually the same musicians, I suppose one can only lay blame at the material. The Gutter Twins' record is pretty good, but maybe not exactly what people are looking for in a live setting, especially if it's unfamiliar. Hell, if you are looking for a spark, covering a bland singer/songwriter's middle-of-the-road material (in this case, Jose Gonzalez' "Down the Line") isn't such a good strategy. Another stab at a cover ("Belles" from Vetiver) fared a bit better.

The (grudgingly given) encore was a bit more successful. "I'm Ready" got the crowd primed in a way the previous material couldn't, and a few of Mark's solo songs ("River Rise," "Hit the City," and "Methamphetamine Blues") helped assuage the female contingent who filled the room, getting wobbly knees whenever Mark opened his mouth and let out that glorious voice. Fittingly, the night closed with "Number Nine" from 2003's Blackberry Belle, a song which is notable for the first recordings of Dulli and Lanegan. Great Northern opened the evening, and brought a shimmering sound that wasn't all gentle wisps: the keyboard frequently gave way to some out and out aggressive guitar lines. Lovely vocals too: the singer could make some side coin as a voice-over actress.
www.theguttertwins.com

Tim Bugbee

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.