The Twilight Sad

OK so here I go again, another chance for me to rave about some band or other. Last week it was a band I had just (re)discovered, Magic Arm. This week it's a band who have barely been off my playlist for the better part of 18 months - The Twilight Sad.

Scotland's Twilight Sad are one of those bands who have been frustrating the hell out of me because I always seem to miss them live, and unlike quite a few bands I like I can imagine that their anthemic wall of noise guitars, pounding beats and cheeky Scottish charm I can imagine would be perfect on stage.

I used to be a huge huge fan of Scottish indie 'back in the day' - I was a big Mogwai, Arab Strap, Belle and Sebastian (I know S!) and Snow Patrol (OK, they're from Northern Ireland but they're part of the Scottish scene) and still remember when Snow Patrol were a decent band (after 2001 and When It's All Over We Still Have To Clean Up it all started to go downhill). But one of the added bits of fun when listening to this band is that when you try and sing along it's almost impossible to not put on a Scottish accent which does make me wonder whether they are in fact a continuation of a great musical heritage or actually an invention of the Scottish Tourist Board.

The Twilight Sad seem actually to be the natural result of that scene, with layers of heartfelt folky melodies and lyrics placed gently on top of heavy, shoegazey guitars and pounding drums. Here's perhaps the best track from their first album:

The Twilight Sad - That Summer I Had Become The Invisible Boy



Here's their latest track, from their new album Forget The Night Ahead

The Twilight Sad - I Became A Prostitute



They have also produced some of the best record covers of recent years, in my opinion.