Label: Matador Records
Released: 3rd November 2023
Returning with their second full length project of this year, bar italia’s ‘The Twits’ is a raucous and at times pretty sinister-sounding collection. It feels more adventurous than previous album ‘Tracey Denim’ – each song traversing a diversity of sonic terrain from the slick-sounding ‘que surprise’, to the cacophonous ‘my little tony’, to the ghostly and feedback-laden ‘bibs’ – and it’s a project which feels true to a band whose signature sound lies within the realms of darkness and discomfort.
Waltzy ‘twist’ has a Brian Jonestown Massacre vibe with its acoustic strumming, and despite its funny name, ‘Real house wibes (desperate house vibes)’ has a dark, foreboding sound. ‘world’s greatest emoter’ is a rocking floor-filler, while ‘sounds like you had to be there’ is sweeter sounding and shoegaze-y. The trio’s song craft is textured with cool overlapping riffs, and this combined with each of their voices alternating throughout the tracks creates different melodies and cadences which switch between jarringly dissonant, to almost comforting and conversational.
‘The Twits’ is a dynamic, evocative, and overall pretty cool album. With unexpected twists and turns, there’s a dark grunginess throughout which makes it feel like it could be the soundtrack to some sort of noir film.
