The Twang, Amsterdam - EP review
Birmingham's The Twang are feeling very acoustic at the moment.
They've released this four-track present for their fans, as well as planning a mini tour to showcase their stripped back talents.
This now includes two dates in their home city at the Glee Club due to popular demand, giving their local fanbase a double chance to hear the four tracks here, as well as acoustic takes on the biggest hits from across their five-album career which began with 2007's Love It When I Feel Like This.
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The EP to go alongside the tour consists of three new tracks - the title number, Life On A What If and People Stop, as well as a live version of their track Dream, taken from last year's studio release If Confronted Just Go Mad. This one is a live recording of a performance they gave for music promoters This Feeling's online TV channel and is probably the pick of the bunch.
It's got a different pace to the other three tunes and its upbeat core makes it feel more alive - and this is probably accentuated by the energy coming out of its live performance too. Phil Etheridge's growling vocals sound at their finest here - his laddish approach and delivery still criminally underrated in the discussion on this country's current finest vocalists. The guitars dance arm in arm from start to finish and the jumping electrics add to the quality and size of the sound.
Of the new tracks, perhaps Life On A What If is the most memorable. Dreamy and almost whistful, the haunting vocal hum floating over the top of the track gives it a much taller feeling, something greater than you towering above. It makes the song emotive and smothering.
The title track Amsterdam is an ode to lads, friends and couples holidays for any age - anyone who has enjoyed a long weekend around the city's many waterways and can recall the feeling of excitement and restlessness leading up to it will resonate. Soft and with harmonica keeping time it is a pleasingly tender tribute to one of Europe's finest cities.
Rating: 6/10
The Twang will be performing two separate sets at Birmingham's Glee Club on April 5 as part of their A Month Of Sundays Acoustic Tour
