Twin Atlantic – Free
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Impact and expectation: two words that that have been at Twin Atlantic door for the last two years. The Impact was in the in the form of 2009’s mini album ‘Vivarium’ which instantly put the Scottish foursome in ‘next big thing’ territory. Couple that with a seemingly never ending amount of touring, supporting some of music heavyweights (Blink 182, Biffy Clyro to name a few) the hype for TA’s debut began. Enter expectation, a real killer because no matter how good an album is, if compared to what people expected often people are left feeling underwhelmed…
I’m pleased to inform you all that ‘Free’ is a roaring success and will meet the expectations of exisiting fans whilst undoubtedly gaining them new fans Now you know it’s good sit back and let me explain why it’s so good.
The delights begin instantly with album opener ‘Edit Me’ which has an intro like a siren, almost like it is alerting you to the fact that this album going to kick your ass and that you need to sit back and enjoy a wholesome slice of rock music. If the opener doesn’t attract you then the following juggernauts of ‘Time For You To Stand Up’ and ‘Apocalyptic Renegade’ most certainly will. With its barrage of melodic shots it a breathless 9 minutes of music which gets cooled off with the much more toned down ‘Yes I Was Drunk’
The best part about ‘Free’ is for the most part it feels like a follow on and upgrade of their previous EP’s instead of a complete switch which can happen with bands on occasion. A shame because it more often than not strips the band of what made people interested in the first place. Luckily though this is not the case here. There was some talk of Sam McTrusty vocals being more Americana but I disagree and think his vocals still contain the same Scottish bite at the forefront of the songs, while ‘Barry McKenna’ shows himself to be one of the most talented guitarists out there. The mad guitar sounds he pushed through on ‘Vivarium’ isn’t here but his all round guitar work along with Mr Mctrusty vocals give virtually every song an unmistakable unique identity.
I say virtually because at 13 tracks ‘Free’ only problem is it has too many tracks. The quality on offer doesn’t run through the entire album, the middle portion whilst being solid doesn’t offer anything too memorable. The title track is a little lacking and has radio friendly written all over it but sadly is missing the key elements that the majority of ‘Free’ possesses, basically it’s not a good advert for the quality of the album as a whole while ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’ should be a impressive b-side.
The closing tracks confirm the importance of having this album in your collection with the immensely surprisingly instrumental ‘Serious Underground Dance Vibes’ will delight your senses and is best heard with the volume turned down low.
In many recent interviews TA have said that they learn from every band they tour with. If this album is a result of that then I think their peers should be taking notes from TA. The effort put into ‘Free’ is clinical without taking away too much of the rawness that the band have built their music on.
Well done boys impact made and expectations met!
Rating: 
1. ‘Edit Me’
2. ‘Time For You To Stand Up’
3. ‘Apocalyptic Renegade’
4. ‘Yes, I Was Drunk’
5. ‘Dreamember’
6. ‘Free’
7. ‘Crash Land’
8. ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’
9. ‘The Ghost Of Eddie’
10. ‘Serious Underground Dance Vibes’
11. ‘Eight Days’
12. ‘Wonder Sleeps Here’
13. ‘We Want Better, Man
Songs to try before you buy: ‘Edit Me’ ‘Dreamember’ ‘The Ghost Of Eddie’ ‘Serious Underground Dance Vibes’
Song To Avoid: ‘Make A Beast Of Myself’
