Finnish band Black Twig have just released their first album Paper Trees on Soliti. It’s a tour de force through the back pages of big sounding guitar rock, conjuring the brilliant ringing guitars of early House of Love, the overwhelming power of the Catherine Wheel and the intensity of Bailter Space.
Singer Aki Pohjankyro has a voice that sounds slightly whispered, but still strong which gives the songs an unearthly quality which really isn’t necesarry since the twin guitar attack already lifts them pretty high aloft. Lake Song is good enough to stand head and shoulders with the likes of Black Metallic and Swervedriver’s Duel. The motorik beat of Kouvlola keeps you on your toes and the straight ahead pop of Death Scene and All Your Time makes the album stick to your ribs.
I haven’t heard a band with a sound like this in quite a while. Some might call it shoegaze, but they’d be wrong. This is an album of guitar powered rock that doesn’t fit into any category. Like the Chameleons, House of Love and Catherine Wheel before them, they stand on their own, not really sounding like any of their contemporaries.
stream: Black Twig – Lake Song
stream: Black Twig – Death Scene
