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If you haven’t heard Brisbane’s Twin Haus by now, let me say that I feel privileged to be the one to help you out from under the rock you’ve been living and introduce you to the new world. The quartet have just dropped their sophomore EP, Nothing Lavish, and it’s more of a journey through time and space than The Mighty Boosh.
With extended sonic tangents and some truly sophisticated songwriting, Twin Haus master the balance between experimentalism and engagement on Nothing Lavish.
The entire EP, from nine minute opener, Synthetic Egg, all the way through to the single from the release, I Used To Think, reveal a detailed, refined approach to songwriting, Twin Haus are quite clearly playing in two arenas. On one hand they’re not just flirting with experimentalism but are locked in a tight-fisted embrace with it, on the other they’re churning out engaging, catchy singles. It’d be easier to bring Donald Trump and your local hippie together, rather than marry meandering, psychedelia with razor sharp mod rock and about a hundred other genres.
Saying that, they’ve made it work brilliantly, bringing the four tracks together with a precision that very few artists ever truly master in their careers. They seem to be as close to perfecting the balance between engagement and experimentalism as one would ever hope to be.
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This ability to bring together two ideals is true of the production on the EP as well. While the record is incredibly tight musically, thanks to the watchful eyes and masterful execution of producers Steve Kempnich and Tim Carr, it’s incredibly interesting and doesn’t come across as over-produced nor over-though. Everything is light, sparse and methodically placed.
Something needs to be said for the final track on the record, the 11 minute 23 second epic, The Revue. This isn’t a band lost, dawdling through a lengthy tune almost as bored as their audience. No, this is a band that has somehow melded jazz, prog-rock, new wave, lo fi, post-punk, post-Radiohead and so on.
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From the well crafted bass lines and delay-heavy guitars, to the outstanding, thunderous drums that drift in and out of control of the track, The Revue is a banger like we haven’t seen in many years – dare we say since the yore of bands like Zeppelin and co. Daniel Grima’s voice is an absolute stand out on every track as well, showing versatility and contrast at every turn and musical change.
Twin Haus are heading out on an extensive, and we mean extensive, national tour in support of Nothing Lavish, so make sure you head down to one of their shows to have your face melted right off of your body.
