The Gutter Twins' debut album

Thu 28th Feb, 2008 in International News

Comprised of what Pitchforkmedia.com proclaims are “two of alt-rock’s greatest front-men”, Saturnalia is the first album from The Gutter Twins, the collaboration forged in late 2003 by Mark Lanegan ( Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age ) and maverick singer-songwriter Greg Dulli ( Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers ).

Saturnalia finds the pair going deeper into the shadows than they ever have before with their past projects. Produced by Dulli and Lanegan along with the band’s unofficial third member Mathias Schneeberger, Saturnalia’s eerie modal swirls trap the listener in each song’s atmosphere; simultaneously evoking everything from Indian sitars to Appalachian folk and Delta grit, the drones inadvertently create narcotic hooks.

Spartan electronica collides with spooky space blues on the track ‘Who Will Lead Us?’. ‘Idle Hands’ fuses Middle Eastern exoticism with shocking guitar riffs that shoot AC/DC boogie into another galaxy.

The cumulative effect proves internal yet epic: the netherworld symphonics of Mogwai, Sigur Ros and Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore are touchstones, alongside the sprawling emotions of Pink Floyd, the melodically catchy paranoia of the Beach Boys, the primal confessionals of John Lennon.

Saturnalia is out in Australia through Stomp / Sub Pop on March 1.