Saturnalia - BBC
Via BBC.co.uk
by Helen Groom
15 February 2008
With a gestation period almost as long as an elephant, The Gutter Twins have finally released their first offering, Saturnalia, an ominous, raw, dark sounding album that scorches itself into your eardrums. The Gutter Twins are long time alt rock legends Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) and Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs), both of who have been collaborating with myriad musical partners in the years since their former outfits met their demise. Lanegan most notably partnered with Isobel Campbell on the Mercury nominated Ballad Of The Broken Seas.
Combining traditional rock grandstanding, with twisted undertones, a smattering of blues and the finest traditions of American alt rock, Saturnalia is not an album that will pick up your spirits, but there is a beauty to be found in something that seems sound of the more painful corners of life.
Lead single Idle Hands has an album-typical darkness to it, with an almost satantic sounding, stadium-sized guitar riff underpinning lyrics of love and suffering intertwined. It’s the sound that listeners with a tendency towards head banging will have been waiting for.
Even in the murky feel to Saturnalia, there is a variety in the sounds and influences. Circle The Fringes begins with a softer feel, but before long the ominous, oppressive atmosphere creeps in, exploding in a ferocious scrawl of guitars. In contrast, I Was In Love With You has a fantastic layered approach, with echoes of a Beatles-esque sound found inside a swirling, anthemic ode to heartbreak.
Who Will Lead Us and Seven Stories Underground, both of which have a bluesier feel, but still hold discordant undertones, while Each to Each has a whiff of Electronica about it.
Saturnalia is never less than music on a grand scale. It’s about the depths of rawness; of soulful words wrapped up in alt rock forms. It is a sound full of passion that feels as if it will only be fully unleashed when played on stage. If only all alt rock was a good as this.
Saturnalia - NME
NME.com
7/10
Well, what did you expect – Adele? Putting former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan – not so much human as a walking medicine cabinet – and ex-Afghan Whigs toxic avenger Greg Dulli into a studio was never going to result in a feel-good hit of the summer, was it? Such is the brooding menace throughout ‘Saturnalia’ – a debauched Roman ceremony where slaves swapped places with their masters, since you ask – you can almost hear Scott Weiland ripping up his SS cap in envy at the sheer creepiness of it all.
Opener ‘The Stations’ is so eerie it sounds like bats are flying through the studio and goth-grunge anthem ‘God’s Children’ makes gloom junkies Earth sound like the soundtrack to a foam party round Lovefoxxx’s place. Lend an ear to murder ballad ‘All Misery/Flowers’ and you’ll hear Lanegan babbling “Let’s ride/Suicide!” over diabolic blues that could tip The Mars Volta into the abyss forever.
All of which makes for one hell of a ride. ‘Idle Hands’ is the sound of Tinariwen and U2 playing a black mass, sublime Creole boogie ‘Seven Stories Underground’ finds Dulli crooning “Black dog keeps following me”
while ‘Bête Noire’ sees Lanegan as a cosmic preacher, casting his eye over the freaks on the trail to a hymnal meeting; all fire’n’brimstone and groovy Fender Rhodes.
However, what gives ‘Saturnalia’ its real kick is the way it emotionally engages. After decades spent battling their personal demons on the road to excess, the Palace Of Wisdom is finally within sight. On the clicking noir of ‘Each To Each’ they croon, “Come down slow and easy/You’ll find a way”, aware the darkest hour is always just before dawn, while the Dulli-helmed ‘Who Will Lead Us?’ sees him plea for redemption, his “wretched soul” stranded outside the pearly gates. Proof the devil really does have all the best tunes.
Paul Moody
Saturnalia - Aol.ca
Though I came of age in the early ’90s, neither the Screaming Trees nor Afghan Whigs figured heavily into my musical development. I dug a few of the singles from each but I just couldn’t relate to their brand of bellowing angst - was more of a moper than a shouter. Did I say was?
Even though it’s been some 15 years since either band reached their commercial peaks with Sweet Oblivion and Gentlemen respectively, the frontmen from each band have never stepped out of the public eye. Mark Lanegan has carved out a critically acclaimed solo career in addition to his duties as a sometime-Queen Of The Stone Age and unlikely duet partner with Isobel Campbell while Greg Dulli has been a Twilight Singer for as long as he was an Afghan Whig and now the pair, who’ve worked together before in the Twilight Singers, are set to release the first album from their long-percolating collaboration as The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia, out Tuesday. And hell, if you’ve been waiting a long time for this? It was worth it.
It’s hard to imagine a situation in which Greg Dulli would be the good cop, but here - even though his vocals drip with the greasy soul and anguished lasciviousness that have long been his hallmark, they can’t withstand Lanegan’s weight of a thousand tombstones baritone. When he steps in, it’s like every light in the room dims and the temperature drops by ten degrees. The man has presence. They both do. And together, whether trading lead vocals or in harmony, they’ve produced a record that stands as one of the finer pure rock records I’ve heard in ages. Dominated by huge guitars (”Idle Hands” is an apocalypse I could get into) but also drenched in piano, strings and mellotron - this is no collection of home demos cobbled together - Saturnalia is grandiose but never loses the rawness or darkness that gives it its crackling vibrancy. Of course, when you’ve got two singers who sound like their concert rider could consist of nothing but whiskey and gravel, how could it? The songwriting drips with blues and soul with dashes of Americana and shows two veteran songwriters still restless, still searching and still not the kind of guys you’d want to run into in a dark alley. Absolutely bracing.
Streaming Saturnalia
The Gutter Twins are streaming Saturnalia in its entirety at their myspace page.
The Gutter Twins - Papillon
Yes, Lanegan is singing the second verse…
Gutter Twins at the Bowery Ballroom, NYC.
February 14, 2008
SK Updates
I’ll be out of the country the next two weeks, and be without internet access. In the mean time, be sure to check out the official Gutter Twins Myspace and Scott Ford’s blog for updates.
You can stream Saturnalia in its entirety at http://3voor12.vpro.nl/. Thanks to everyone who sent that in.
2.14.08 Setlist
Thanks Caryn
Dulli’s Valentine’s Playlist
Greg Dulli first made a name for himself crafting low-fi rock and soul songs about hustlers and heartbreak for Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers. Dulli is currently one half of a new project called the Gutter Twins (the other half being former Screaming Trees frontman and frequent Queens of the Stone Age collaborator Mark Lanegan). Their debut album Saturnalia (Sub Pop) comes out on March 4, but Dulli provided Rock Daily with a special Valentine’s Day playlist for that special someone in your life today.
John Lee Hooker & Miles Davis, “Coming to Town”
“You have to have a good opener with a strong visual sense for where you’re going on Valentine’s Day. It’s from the Hot Spot soundtrack. That movie was fucking awful, but the soundtrack is fucking fantastic. It’s got a bump and grind to it. You have to balance romance with sex, otherwise it’s just a sissy fest.”Carla Bruni, “L’Amour” [Listen]
“I always thought she was beautiful. When I found out she was a singer and that she sang in French, I was keen to hear it. The fact that she shacked up with the French president after two months of romance, that’s Valentine’s enough for me. My disdain for the French is always balanced by my envy for how they get to work that particular aspect of life.”Bootsy Collins, “I’d Rather Be With You” [Listen]
“If you ever see him play it live, when he hits the ‘Bootzilla’ pedal, you better be wearing a diaper. Because it goes all the way through you. Chicks love this song. You can dance to it, so this is where you make your move. This is where you get the slow dance going, you know what I mean?”Chet Baker, “The Wind” [Listen]
“This is where you take the momentum you got from the Bootsy Collins song and you start to do something with it. It’s haunting and very sensual. I love it.”Lightnin’ Hopkins, “Once Was A Gambler” [Listen]
“This is the time the clothes start coming off. It’s the blues, and nobody causes the blues quite like a woman.”Roberta Flack, “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” [Listen]
“I don’t care who you are, it is undeniable in its beauty. I bet Kerry King from Slayer sheds a tear when he hears it. That’s how beautiful it is. This is the centerpiece of this play list.”Bobby Womack, “I’m In Love” [Listen]
“Bobby Womack is one of my favorite singers ever. In this song, as in every other one of his songs, he has one of those shouts that is just orgasmic.”Paolo Conte, “Reveries” [Listen]
“Some call him the Italian Tom Waits, though it’d be Tom Waits circa Closing Time, not the glass-gargling Tom Waits. This song is in French, and it’s fucking beautiful. This is the point in the evening where you have to take them somewhere else, to the next level, and this song is stunning.”Johnny Jenkins, “My Love Will Never Die” [Listen]
“This song is the darkest and most overtly sexual song on this mix, and it’s a barnburner. I’m going deep for some, but Johnny Jenkins is always on the surface for me. He’s never far from my ‘push play’ finger.”Martina Topley-Bird, “Lying”
“She’s my friend, and she’s the queen. One of the finest ladies I’ve ever met, and I think one of the finest singers in the world. This song is very tender. It’s perfect for a Valentine’s Day rendezvous.”Astor Piazzolla, “Milonga del Angel” [Listen]
“Astor is the Argentinia master of the tango. If you don’t have a little tango on Valentine’s Day, I fucking feel sorry for you.”Donny Hathaway, “A Song For You” [Listen]
“It breaks my heart every time I hear it. Every time I hear it, it feels like the first time I’ve heard it, and it breaks my heart every single time. If you can’t close the deal with this song, you were toast before you even walked in the door.”
Happy Valentine’s Day
The Gutter Twins make their US debut tonight at the Bowery Ballroom.
From Style.com
Heartbroken this Valentine’s Day?
The Gutter Twins, a.k.a. Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, can help. The gravel-throated frontmen from the Afghan Whigs (RIP) and the Screaming Trees (ditto) perform their first-ever show tonight at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom (in between cigarettes). Their subject matter, as usual, is love, loss, and (primarily) lust; the mood, dark and sleazy. Dulli’s oeuvre includes lines like “I’ve got a dick for a brain,” which will probably squash any lingering romantic sentiments you—or, if you’re daring, your date—may harbor. Not in NYC? Their debut album, Saturnalia, comes out March 4 on SubPop. We hope your heart has healed by then.
And Village Voice:
Composed of Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, the Gutter Twins are an alt-rock dream team. With pedigrees that include the Afghan Whigs and the Twlight Singers for Dulli and Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age for Lanegan, their forthcoming Saturnalia captures each artist’s distinct brooding demeanor perfectly. Their songs are dark and profound, and strangely, neither artist overshadows the other. It’s the perfect blend of early-’90s angst and midlife crisis. With Mighty Fine.
Saturnalia - Alarm Magazine
Gutter Twins: Saturnalia : ALARM Magazine - Music & Art Beyond Comparison
Beginning in the late 1980s, the voices of Afghan Whigs front man Greg Dulli and the Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan taught many young girls (and boys) convincing lessons about the sensual powers of rock music. Since then, Lanegan’s prolific career has included a number of critically acclaimed solo records and collaborations with the likes of Kurt Cobain, Isobel Campbell, and Queens of the Stone Age. In turn, Dulli has created a successful career with one-time Whigs side project The Twilight Singers.
On Saturnalia, their first joint effort as The Gutter Twins, the two long-time friends mesh rock, gospel, folk, world beats, and electronics. Diverse songs showcase each man’s agility as a songwriter as well as his stunning vocal talent. The elegant, melancholic opening track “The Stations” leads to Tom-Waits-without-the-gravel blues number “Seven Stories Underground” and the John Lennon-inspired tune “I Was in Love With You.”
The record is accessible due to the duo’s pop sensibilities, yet it remains multidimensional and intelligent, at times reminiscent of groups such as Black Heart Procession or Mogwai. Dulli’s tenor is a warm compliment to Lanegan’s brooding bass and vice versa. The swaggering verses of “Idle Hands” morph into sincere choruses; could this be the mark of men with acute Don Juanism? The album succeeds by keeping listeners on the edge of their seats, eagerly anticipating the twist in the next scene.
-Jamie Ludwig
The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia The long awaited debut from Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan
Order CD at Amazon.com
