#2047 Twin Peaks - Down in Heaven

Twin Peaks were always scuzzy half-art punks to me, so the turn to sunburned Americana's a surprise.

Their latest's a warm fuse that crackles and glows in circles through the dust, under sunlit gaps in shed walls, into handdug basements and back. But there's no powderkeg at the end - the smoke and motion is means and the ends, round and and round till the haze is blown out to the fields and surrounding towns.

When I say I hear shades of The Men, Tapes'n'Tapes, and Blizten Trapper, bands with that same knack for making something unexpected and inevitable, its a compliment. But mostly Down in Heaven draws from that early 70's America-via-England tradition, equal parts Exile and Hillbillies, stomping and wailing, and never waiting for nothing to change.

Twang, swagger, grit, blownout desperation, accoustic meets buzzy bass and piano, horns in the wings when the moment's right. Remarkably cohesive, totally assured, totally outside what's going on right now - it's striking. A lowkey gem, lost in time, getting better with age 4.5/5