The Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan)

[Chief]

sure!

btw when i first saw the name gutter twins i thought it was britney spears and paris hilton!

[jarmo]

btw when i first saw the name gutter twins i thought it was britney spears and paris hilton!

 

Good thing I added their names to the subject then.




/jarmo

[jarmo]

European tour in April:

4/5/08 Dublin, IE Ambassador Theater
4/6/08 Belfast, GB Limelight
4/7/08 Glasgow, GB Oran Mor
4/8/08 Manchester, GB Academy
4/9/08 Birmingham, GB Glee
4/11/08 Brussels, BE Ancienne Belgique
4/12/08 Rotterdam, NE Motel Mozaique
4/14/08 Copenhagen, DK Vega
4/15/08 Stockholm, SE Debaser Medis
4/16/08 Oslo NO, Rockefeller
4/18/08 Hamburg, DE Logo
4/19/08 Berlin, DE Postbahnhof
4/20/08 Vienna, AU Szene Wien
4/21/08 Zurich, CH Mascotte
4/23/08 Rome, IT Alpheus
4/24/08 Milan, IT Musicdrome
4/26/08 Barcelona, ES Razzmatazz 1
4/27/08 Madrid, ES Sala Heineken
4/28/08 Bilbao, ES Kafe Antzokia



/jarmo

[jarmo]

The Gutter Twins featuring Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli have posted
a new song from their debut record, Saturnalia.

Circle the Fringes is at:

http://www.myspace.com/theguttertwins




/jarmo

[jarmo]

The live band is:

Mark Lanegan- Vocals
Greg Dulli- Vocals/Guitar/Keys
Dave Rosser- Guitar/Vocals
Scott Ford- Bass/Vocals
Jeff Klein- Guitar/Keys/Vocals
Cully Symington- Drums



/jarmo

[bazgnr]

Saturnalia is available for streaming in full here:

http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/luisterpaal/39261992

Enjoy!

[Chief]

Interview From The Onion:

In recent years, Greg Dulli?once the frontman of the now-defunct Afghan Whigs?has been concentrating on his moody, R&B-nuanced project The Twilight Singers. Meanwhile, Mark Lanegan, once the brooding leader of Screaming Trees, has concentrated on his solo career, releasing his sixth album, Bubblegum, in 2004. He's also kept busy as a sought-after bristling baritone, contributing vocals to Queens Of The Stone Age and Soulsavers, and collaborating with former Belle & Sebastian vocalist Isobel Campbell.

More recently, Dulli and Lanegan have embarked on a musical collaboration as The Gutter Twins, and they've returned to Sub Pop, after years away from the label that nurtured them both early on. They aren't twins, but they have an impenetrable bond, based mostly on sarcasm and in-jokes. From the first bars of "Idle Hands," their new album Saturnalia sounds like they've been at it for years; it's hard to believe this is their first album together. Around Valentine's Day, The A.V. Club sat down with the two notoriously prickly bachelors for some thoughts on the holiday, but their thoughts ran more toward hate than love. And by the time the conversation veered toward Rance Mulliniks (an '80s utility infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays), we'd learned the hard way that outsiders will never understand the bond between twins, fake or otherwise.

The A.V. Club: Rumor has it that this band started off as a joke.

Greg Dulli: Not as a joke. I think Mark told a journalist we were doing it, and then the journalist called me, and I didn't know we were doing it.

AVC: "Idle Hands" is the first single. Do you personally tend to get into trouble if you have a few hours with nothing planned?

GD: I think in our younger days, we probably defined trouble. Now, if we were to have two or three hours, Mark would probably be watching basketball, and I would probably be TiVo-ing History Channel shows.

AVC: Once, in a discussion with the Gallagher brothers?

GD: The magicians?

Mark Lanegan: [Laughs.] Oh, God.

AVC: The band, Oasis. Noel Gallagher was saying that the band decided who would sing each song, that he'd know immediately whether Liam was "getting it" or not, and that would decide who got to sing it. How do you make that decision when writing these songs?

GD: I was personally relieved when Mark decided to sing "Don't Look Back In Anger."

ML: [Laughs.]

GD: That song's kinda out of my range.

AVC: Do either of you like or celebrate Valentine's Day?

GD: I don't really give it much thought. The only time Valentine's Day has any bearing on my life is when I'm dating someone, or if I'm in a relationship. I would call Valentine's Day the path of least resistance. If I buy you gifts, take you out to dinner, then you won't bust my balls. That is Valentine's Day in a nutshell.

ML: Ditto. What he said.

AVC: Have you had any particularly memorable Valentine's Days? A gift given or received that you remember fondly or with horror?

GD: The only one I can really remember is when The Afghan Whigs played on Valentine's Day at the Kennel Club in San Francisco in 1991. The Dwarves played too, and I'm pretty sure that Blag [Dahlia] peed on the front row of the audience. That's the only Valentine's Day that sticks out in my mind.

ML: I'm sure there's a Valentine's Day I spent with Blag as well.

AVC: The first show of the Gutter Twins tour is in New York City on Valentine's Day. So potentially, your show could be someone's idea of a date.

GD and ML: [Both laugh.]

AVC: With that in mind, is there anything you plan on offering up that evening?

GD: A baby goat. But to be fair, that's what we offer up before every show.

ML: [Laughs.]

AVC: Who do you think is being dragged to that show: the guy or the girl?

ML: I'd like to think it's the guy.

GD: I'd like to think it's the guy too. I'm hoping the guy gets dragged. Although it's not like we're Slipknot.

AVC: Why do you think music and romance go together so well? It seems like no one can write songs without eventually writing about love.

GD: Well, I'm guessing music is a form of communication. If you're feeling kind of horny or sad or unrequited, then you put a melody or a beat behind it, you get your point across faster than some milquetoast letter that's sprayed with Old Spice.

AVC: What are some of your favorite love songs?

ML: "Sometimes When We Touch" comes to mind. "You Light Up My Life."

GD: "Kiss You All Over" by Exile. That's mine.

ML: "Summer Breeze" by Seals And Crofts. Or is it Seals and Marty Krofft?

GD: "Eat It" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. That kinda gets 'em going.

AVC: The song on the new Gutter Twins record called "I Was In Love With You" has to be about someone.

GD: I wrote that one. How can I put this delicately? I believe that song may be somewhat self-reflective.

ML: As in onanism?

GD: Yeah, it's sort of in an onanistic way.

ML: Sweet. I didn't know that. I knew there was a reason I didn't sing on it. [Laughs.]

GD: Perhaps you'll join me onstage?

AVC: In the history of your relationships, was there a big difference between when you were unknown as compared to now?

GD: Well, I was known as a performer when I was 11 years old. But at that time, I did notice a spike in interest from the fairer sex, the tender trap.

ML: Some say I would've never even gotten laid if I hadn't been a singer.

GD: Some would be right!

AVC: Is it difficult to recognize whether someone is genuinely interested in you personally, or just in you as a star?

GD: Well, that depends on whether you're talking about a potential object of affection or a creepy stalker.

AVC: You're probably both fairly intimidating to a lot of women.

ML: The problem is, we always double date. That can be quite intimidating.

GD: Except now I've resorted to writing love songs to myself and about myself. So I'm kind of gutted all out.

ML: You cut out the middleman?

GD: Exactly. There's been a spike in lotion sales.

AVC: Could either of you become kept men, or are you too accustomed to freedom?

GD: Being a kept man implies that I would be taken care of, my bills would be paid for?

ML: No shit.

GD: I'd get a new car, go on fabulous vacations, and maybe even be allowed to experiment with her friends. So I'm open to being a kept man. I quite think I could get into lockstep rather quickly.

AVC: The title of your new song "All Misery/Flowers" could easily describe someone's Valentine's Day.

GD: Ah, man. Enough said. Or it could be someone's epitaph.

AVC: Do the Gutter Twins love each other?

GD: Occasionally, but in a decidedly non-Brokeback way. May he rest in peace. Great actor, good guy. Actually, we did watch Brokeback Mountain together on the tour bus.

AVC: How'd that go?

ML: It brought up some feelings.

GD: I, however, was able to quit him.

ML: Oh God.

AVC: How long have you guys known each other?

GD: We met in an orphanage in 1968. That was a long time ago: Thirty-nine years, or something like that.

AVC: How do you both feel about returning to Sub Pop after all these years away from the label?

GD: It seemed like the perfect place to be for what we were doing. And it was met with passion and a negligible degree of indifference by Mark.

AVC: How long have you been writing this record?

GD: It began on Christmas Day 2003, and that's the God's honest truth. That's four years ago.

AVC: You both write music that you can take to?

GD: Stadiums?

ML: The bank?

GD: Swiss accounts. Diamonds. Furs.

AVC: Mark, you've become a kind of the musical version of a utility infielder?

ML: The Rance Mulliniks? The Ed Armbrister?

GD: Wow!

AVC: Do you miss being in a band with your longtime mates, like in Screaming Trees or Afghan Whigs?

GD: I will say this about that. No.

ML: If those were my mates, you're better off not having friends.

GD: The band that we're playing with now is the same band we've been playing with since 2006, although we've got a new drummer on account that he became a spokesman for Massengill.

AVC: What? Oh, you're saying he's a douche.

GD and ML: [Both laugh.]

GD: And please print that. Please.

AVC: Did you write Saturnalia together or separately?

GD: The first bunch of songs we wrote, we wrote in tandem. So that made them different from any songs, because we had never done that before. The other songs that we wrote individually were heavily influenced by the other person's contributions and watched over by the other person.

ML: And were written specifically for this.

AVC: What are your long-term plans for this band?

GD: Are you familiar with the locust? The insect? Every seven years, we'll pop out and cause a crazy noise and make the sky go black and cause people to run in fear.

ML: Eat everything in sight.

GD: We'll eat everything in sight and leave weird little shells where we once were.

[jarmo]

Saw the Gutter Twins at Koko in London tonight.

Fucking brilliant!


As usual, Mark was just singing and holding onto the mic stand.


The Gutter Twins


**** Koko, London

Alexis Petridis
Saturday February 23, 2008
The Guardian

There is a distinct and understandable crackle of anticipation in the air. Former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli and erstwhile Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan began work on their album in 2003: four and half years later, Saturnalia is finally finished. Furthermore, both main protagonists are currently in fighting form. Dulli's eclectic Twilight Singers project has been critically acclaimed, while inveterate collaborator Lanegan is on a remarkable creative roll at the moment, although you would not guess from his onstage demeanour. Dulli's face and racked, gravelly voice suggest a life lived a little unwisely, but he looks and sounds like the epitome of wholesome radiance next to his musical partner. The kind of man who could exude brooding menace while making balloon animals and whistling The Sun Has Got His Hat On, Lanegan tonight manages to cut a hugely unsettling figure while doing virtually nothing, beyond standing very still, singing in his eerie, raddled baritone and the occasional spot of glowering.

An instinct for self-preservation might lead you to applaud Lanegan regardless of what comes out of the PA - you really would not want to annoy him - but the Gutter Twins' music needs no special pleading. It represents a perfect balancing act, the lyrical bleakness, grinding guitars and organ offset by a surprising melodic delicacy. You would perhaps hesitate before calling a song like the piano-led I Was in Love With You poppy - they are not going to be clamouring to cover it on the next series of The X Factor - but its tune is wonderful, not to mention catchy, a chink of light amid the gloom.

In fairness, the gloom is pretty thrilling as well, as evidenced by a startling, diseased cover of Massive Attack's Live With Me. With Terry Callier's lovelorn vocal replaced by Lanegan's subterranean growl, it takes on a disturbing new resonances. "Come and live with me," he growls. Or I'll stab you, seems to be the implication. Like the rest of the Gutter Twins' material, it is an offer that is hard to refuse.

/jarmo

[GypsySoul]

SPIN mag >> March 2008

[bazgnr]

From the new Alternative Press (#237):

Gutter Twins
Saturnalia (4.5/5)

Fire and the ocean floor collide.

For the record, this album had an unfair advantage before the first listen - both Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) and Greg Dulli (the Afghan Whigs) have established a permanent imprint on alt-rock history.  Luckily, the lofty expectations are met in full with Saturnalia.  There are confusing combinations of influences at work, no doubt; but on tracks like "God's Children," the cosmos align and Dulli's and Lanegan's grizzled harmonies combine with stunning clarity.   Odes like "Idle Hands" resemble Round and Round-era Ratt upon first Spin, but somehow the genius of these two warriors bursts through with velvet-kissed melodies to save the day, making you want to both brood and binge in its wake.  "The Body" is vintage Dulli, perhaps even a Twilight Singers throwaway, and "The Stations" only could have been penned by Lanegan - some relative inconsistency at work, but ultimately, the end result is plain amazing.

[jarmo]

Next week is gonna be like Christmas!

 





/jarmo

[bazgnr]

Next week is gonna be like Christmas!

 





/jarmo

Indeed it is.  Having previewed the album in full, I can't wait to actually have  a copy.  Several listens in, "God's Children" is still the stand-out track for me...

[jarmo]

The whole album is now streaming at http://www.myspace.com/theguttertwins





/jarmo

[jarmo]

We meet The Gutter Twins: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/sftw/article858871.ece

The Gutter Twins: Up From the Gutter: http://www.spin.com/articles/gutter-twins



/jarmo

[bazgnr]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/49045-saturnalia

While so many other 1990s alt-rock acts are rehashing their hits on nostalgia package tours, Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan have pushed ahead musically without having to rely heavily on past triumphs. Dulli continues his surprisingly tenacious Twilight Singers project, and Lanegan has released two fairly well-received solo albums, although he's better known for collaborating with Isobel Campbell and Queens of the Stone Age.

Dulli and Lanegan have spent most of the 2000s collaborating flirtatiously, touring and recording together-- check out Lanegan's vocals on the Twilight Singers' cover of "Flashback" by Fat Freddy's Drop, from their 2006 EP A Stitch in Time-- but Saturnalia is their long-in-the-works debut as the Gutter Twins, a partnership that Dulli describes as "the Satanic Everly Brothers." The "Satanic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" might be a little more apt: The album finds them bursting forth from their studio, guns blazing but no clean getaway in sight. Musically, Saturnalia, named after the Roman festival where slaves and masters switch roles, is a concentrated dose of their usual badassery, never straying too far from the territory Dulli explored on the last three Singers albums, and even includes many of the same collaborators: wayward troubadour Joseph Arthur, Mathias Schneeberger, Dave Rosser, Martina Topley-Bird, Queen of the Stone Age Troy Van Leeuwen, and New Orleans organist Quintron (who illuminates "Seven Stories Underground").

The project's sense of familiarity, however, is not a negative. "Each to Each" revisits the eerie electronica of the Twilight Singers' debut, a welcome compliment to Dulli's vocals courtesy of guitarist Jeff Klein and synth player Natasha Schneider. With its odd chorale intro and a string arrangement that shifts chords tectonically, "Idle Hands" builds to a chorus that could scale a skyscraper. Scavenging the gutter, though, Dulli and Lanegan come across some new flourishes. Discordant strings add tension to opener "The Stations", which marches along at a midtempo before Schneeberger's churchly organ raises it aloft. Before the Twins can build to the expected finale, the song simply fades out, redemption thwarted. "God's Children" settles into a Whigsy blaxpoitation mood before drummer Greg Wieczorek hammers out a soaring chorus. "Who Will Lead Us?" is part folk and part gospel, so subdued that the tension never releases but bubbles into "Seven Stories Underground".

With a billion cigarettes between them, the Twins are well matched vocally: Lanegan sings like he's rising from the dead, Dulli like he's falling from grace. Together, they can make a line like "We're gonna have some fun" sound utterly sinister, which lends these lecherously slow burners their peculiar gravity. Lanegan sings "All Misery / Flowers" like a Tom Waits song, his vocal delivery tripping against the song's rhythms as he conjures junkie afflictions: "Little girls might twitch at the way I itch, but the way I burn, it's a son of a bitch." Dulli closes the album with "Front Street", which begins, somewhat morbidly, with the chirping of birds. It's no joke, but a chiaroscuro contrast with the song's pitch subject. "People to use, lovers to break, handful of pills, no life to take," he sings, flirting with the masochist lover/confidence man he perfected 15 years ago on Gentlemen and seemed to abandon with the Twilight Singers.

It's no coincidence that Sub Pop is releasing Saturnalia: The label was home to both the Whigs and the Trees, as well as to Lanegan the solo artist. These songs plumb their persistent themes of sin and redemption, damnation and salvation, but in a way that sounds like they're taking stock of their own long and undeniably tough careers, in which disappointment, death, and drug addiction are public record. As such, the album possesses a gruesome attraction for fans of both musicians, who will hear it as a bloodletting, as well as for newcomers, who may hear it as a violent shoot-out-- Dulli and Lanegan against the world, their fates undecided. The Twins push each other to go darker and deeper, to bare more of their souls, so Saturnalia sounds heavier, bleaker, simultaneously more desperate and more content than anything either musician has done in years. As they both sing on "All Misery / Flowers, "I did all I did just to get through to heaven." Dulli and Lanegan haven't reached the Pearly Gates yet, but that's our good fortune.

[jarmo]

Buy the album now and thank me later!

 






/jarmo

[bazgnr]

For anyone who needs more convincing, a collection of press and reviews can be found here, as well as a direct link to iTunes:

http://www.summerskiss.com/

[*Timothy*]

The album is good . But maybe a little disappointing . Course that can change with another spine or two.

[jarmo]

Amazing album that gets better over time.

 


/jarmo

[jarmo]

The Gutter Twins will perform on the Late Show With David Letterman on
Wednesday, March 19 at 11:30PM ET/PT.

 



/jarmo