The Twang @ The Independent, Holmeside, Sunderland

Welcome to the first night of The Twang’s new tour in support of their third album, due tomorrow, (today) on Monday the 29th, entitled ‘10:20, the title may elude to a whole lot more, sadly it  does, but not with the full on drama of recent events. The album owes its title to  a note that an irate studio neighbour left cellotaped to their studio door. At this time the band discovered that original drummer and life long friend Matty Clinton had stolen over £10,000 worth of equipment from their studio. They were obviously devastated – but the decision was made to sack Matty. His replacement is Ash “grandmaster ash” Sheehan, a well known percussionist on the underground house scene, known for his legendary percussion sets all over the world from the midlands to Ibiza, playing along side the likes of Annie Mac, Swedish House Maffia, will.i.am etc, so the lads were nearly back on course and a whole lot happier.

First they rebuilt the studio in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, Singer Phil says, “We recorded the album in our own studio in Birmingham with our good friend Jon Simcox. As we built the studio ourselves, and were funding the record ourselves, we weren’t under any pressure to meet anyone else’s deadlines and had the freedom to work whenever and however we wanted without any record company hassle. We decided early on that we wanted the record to be more organic than our previous two albums so we’ve tried to be disciplined and strip away the layers and leave something natural and beautiful”.

So except for some a hatchet jobs  by some of the London press on the new album, leads to a still smarting band and crowd (those that were aware of such scribblings, (NME does not sell so much in the North),  any frustration was diminished consequence as a healthy crowd that greeted The Twang’s first Sunderland bow, around 150 plus greeted the first bars of ‘Mainline’ the latest single, which with a hefty haul of new material from‘10:20’, bur no time to eulogise on the set opener, as ‘Barney Rubble’ ensures the crowd rise as one as the band come up for air. The Twang are well known for their hook laden “carnival” of a chorus, put to glorious use for ‘Either Way’ and the calls to arms of ‘We’re A Crowd’ another new song which shines, ‘Took The Fun’ is as good as ever, ‘Paradise’ the former single is warmly accepted by the crowd, momentarily robbed of singing virtually every line and certainly just about every chorus for the night. Remember a very tight driven rendition of Durutti Column’s lost classic, ‘Tomorrow’ – a nod to Factory Records back catalogue. Before guitar salvo of ‘Got Me Sussed’, ‘Two Lovers’ and ‘Wide Awake’ were met word for word, by the sea of hands and bouncing

bodies. The Twang take their temporary leave, as the band dive through fire doors just off stage for a quick cig.

An empty stage sparked the loudest at least for a good while, it was easily the most enthusiastic crowd singing and foot stomping ended a minute after band members retook to the Independent Stage, they cover ‘Drinking In LA’, before the heart pumping ‘Black Gupa’ then the band closed with an extended version of ‘Cloudy Room’ to rapturous noise and applause. New band member – “Simo” aka Jon Simcox who help produce the new album from the very start of the recording of ‘10:20’, good vocals to boot.

Those are the rough bones of the matter, but I conclude The Twang are back with a good album with the prospect a  rewarding UK tour, which will be challenging, the band commented onstage “We have never played as long as this” a fair testament that the set is getting a lot bigger and better for it.

. Also journalists can write some real shit sometimes, in The Twang’s case, are you listening to the same album as I? All songs from 10:20 work well live alongside all the other indie friendly anthems. i wonder if some of the so called press critics  get there bonuses in their weekly pay cheques for running down perfectly good bands?

But tonight belongs to The Twang, they should rightly confident that on the eve of the ‘10:20’ album, the band stand as a powerful live force now with even more fizz with at least four of five new songs on show. Next stop Lemon Tree, Aberdeen they they’re in for a treat. Put simply, a thoroughly good night. 9/10

Steve Janes

The Tour continues

Mon 29 UK, Aberdeen Lemon Tree
Tues 30 UK, Glasgow Garage
NOV
Thurs 1 UK, Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
Fri 2 UK, Leeds Cockpit
Sat 3 UK, Sheffield Leadmill
Mon 5 UK, Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
Tues 6 UK, Norwich Waterfront
Wed 7 UK, Derby Academy
Thurs 8 UK, Reading Sub89
Sat 10 UK, Bristol The Cooler
Sun 11 UK, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Tues 13 UK, Manchester Ritz
Wed 14 UK, London Scala