Brummie legends The Twang undertake their annual run of Christmas shows ending in my and their hometown of Birmingham. This year the fellas are playing their second album `Jewellery Quarter` in its entirety along with some favourites and surprises with a few tracks on the album that have never had a live airing.
The album is named after the area the band have been based since 2008 and has many other Birmingham reference points, most notably the cover art which was hand sprayed by local graffiti artist Temper and uses the unmistakable Baskerville typeface which was designed in Birmingham by John Baskerville in 1757.
The album was recorded twice, initially with Youth from Killing Joke at Space Mountain in Grenada, Spain before being scrapped and rerecorded with Neil Claxton from electronic duo Mint Royale at Blueprint Studios in Salford. The venue is absolutely heaving as the first bars to `Took The Fun` ring out and everybody`s singing along. But it`s `Barney Rubble` that has all and sundry screaming and shouting the lyrics as the place erupts.
`Jewellery Quarter` could be seen as the band`s difficult second album with its thoughtful reflective and introspective views on life and relationships when you reach that certain age and reflect on what you got up to in your formative adolescent years. I took time to read some of the reviews at the time, which were pretty harsh and which I felt had more to do with the city the band come from rather than their musical merit. I`ve re-listened to the album a lot recently and have to say I think it`s stood the test of time and didn`t deserve the contempt shown by a London-centric press. That aside the rhythmic `Put It On The Dancefloor` is another animal live with a bass line that reverbs right through you while songs like `May I Suggest`, `Encouraging Sign` and `Williamsburg` displays a softer side to the band and their unappreciated diversity of style. The aching ballad like `Another Bus` leads us out of the album as the band leave the stage briefly in preparation for the favourites section.
The group returns with the superb `Wide Awake` a song of regret which has arms waving in the air before `You on my shoulders` encourages just that with friends clambering on top of each other. I love `Either Way` a song for me that illustrates the challenge of depression in young men which was quickly followed by `Two Lovers` a kind of urban soap opera wrapped up in three glorious minutes. We have a cover of Canadian alt rock/hip hop collective Bran Van 3000`s `Drinking in LA` a song that the band covered because they felt it was relevant to the COVID crisis. It`s a number that shouldn`t work but does.
This ninety-minute show closes out with `Guapa` a Spanish adjective that translates to “beautiful” or “hot” in English and `Cloudy Room` with it`s hinted at references to recreational stimulants and that`s it for this year. The Twang at Christmas has almost become a reaffirming life institution where you get to have a few beers and hug your mates while listening to some top tunes that you`d almost forgotten.
I listened to a recent interview which hinted at some new music to come from the band in the new year and it was good to hear there`s more heading our way from these Quintonites. So, here`s to the next twenty years.
