Twin Atlantic have always been a band that have lacked purpose somewhat; I mean, earnest Scottish blokes with electric guitars are hardly in deficit at the moment, are they? And so, to shake off the Biffy allusions, McTrusty and company have decided to take a pop-centric approach, with mixed results. By that I mean if you mixed together disappointment, desperation, embarrassment and commercial shilldom, this would be the result. A bit like Agent Orange.
The song starts off promising enough with its thumping beat and tension-building guitar line, however it soon falls comfortably in to a lurch where it ambles for the duration of the verse. At this point the track still has plenty of potential to be salvaged, but then, out of nowhere, the listener is One Direction’d in the face, with a chorus whose misfired attempt at success can be matched only by The Offspring using auto-tune and Gary Numan officially backing the Conservatives in its hilarity-inducing awfulness.
With all the sincerity of a Kings of Leon club remix played at Oceana, McTrusty sings “open up your heart and your soul” in his trademark, accent-affected yelp; however against the backdrop of the blindingly sheened guitars and the lazily programmed drum track, the vocal feels jarringly out of place. Sort of like if Groundskeeper Willie fronted 5 Seconds of Summer.
In a sharp 20 seconds, Twin Atlantic have managed to ruin their credibility, probably their careers and definitely my week.
At least people won’t be comparing you as much to Biffy now, eh lads?
2/10
‘Heart and Soul’ is released on May 25th via Red Bull Records.
1 Comment
Completely agree