The Gutter Twins live
The Gutter Twins
Metro, Chicago
Friday, March 7, 2008
It isn’t entirely accurate to print The Gutter Twins show happened Friday the 7th, because, in actuality, the outfit didn’t take the stage until well after 1 a.m. Saturday morning. Then again, a so-late-it’s-almost-early performance is hardly surprising, given the nocturnal aesthetic of the talent.
The Gutter Twins are the realization the long-promised pairing of Greg Dulli, he of Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers notoriety, and Mark Lanegan, former Screaming Trees frontman and repeat offender in Queens Of The Stone Age. The project makes a certain amount of sense because, well, both frontmen are prone to such collaborations, and, more importantly, both are dark alt-rock icons whose alternative forefather status almost seems an afterthought as both singers delve deeper into the darker worlds of soul, blues, and even seething yet skillful sophisticated rock.
The duo’s recent Metro show, rounded out by an impressive and skilled backing band, offered exactly what both Dulli and Lanegan fans had come out expecting — some of which would include impassioned howls, and a startlingly low and ominous baritone, respectively, with a generous display of swagger present throughout. Much of the night’s set stemmed from the pair’s just-released debut, Saturnalia (Sub Pop), such as the album’s declarative statement “Idle Hands,” which wielded a surprising increase in power over its studio counterpart. Likewise, the song’s breakdown halfway through recalling a siren seemed appropriate, given the increase in urgency the song received live. The Lanegan-led “All Misery/Flowers” encapsulated the troubles and unrest the singer brought to the table, while the Dulli-owned cover of José González’s “Down The Line” became a full blown cacophony by its end, with the singer repeatedly pleading “Don’t let the darkness eat you up,” in what had to have been, at least partially, a self-aware bit of irony.
Lanegan himself may have summed up the tone of the evening best, however, during the group’s trademark cover of Massive Attack’s “Live With Me,” during which he off-handledly remarks “When you’re born into trouble, you sing the blues.” It was a mantra the pair lived up to throughout the evening. Yet, despite the anxiety and tension ever-present throughout the set, unassuming moments of relief did present themselves, such as the markedly tuneful and comparatively sparse “The Body.” Itself one of the highlights of the evening, the song also suggested that the set could perhaps benefit from a few lighter moments amid all the smoke and fears.
Ultimately, The Gutter Twins won’t go down as the best project either Dulli or Lanegan have ever been involved in. Then again, it’s likely neither singer was striving toward that goal. Instead, the two have created an uneven album with some fierce, mellow, and occasionally aimless songs that translate better in a live setting. At some point in the near future, both frontmen will return to their respective projects, and The Gutter Twins will stand as an experiment that ultimately did no harm, in the process delivering an altered hybrid of what Dulli and Lanegan followers know to look for by now. By the time a new Twilight Singers record drops, any of the group’s missteps will all but certainly be forgiven, if not at least somewhat forgotten.
— Jaime de’Medici
Category: Live Reviews, Weekly
