One of the unwelcome but unavoidable side-effects of reviewing a lot of gigs is that you end up seeing a lot of bands who are, to put it agriculturally, pish. This stands to reason; everybody wants to be a rock star yet only a minute percentage of those who attempt it will have the ability. Such is life.
It is somewhat poor form to actively dislike a young band who haven’t made their breakthrough. Oppobrium is best saved for those who represent and clear and present danger to your synapses. But after somehow catching the spoiled, awful efforts of Twin Atlantic three times in the last six months, we’ve had to make an exception. This is, without a doubt, the most annoying band in Britain right now.
It’s not the music which really offends. They really, really want to be a darker Biffy Clyro, but instead peddle a half-baked generic mid-Atlantic alt.rock which a thousand bands do in any town in the country. It isn’t the unintentionally amusing lyrics, which strive for earnest gravitas but actually resemble an Onion parody of an emo act. In short, they are a bit shit. Hey-ho, lots of bands are. What really marks out Twin Atlantic is their overwhelming sense of entitlement.
We caught them at RockNess and panelled them for singer Sam McTrusty berating the audience for not responding favourably enough to the delights of a shite sub-Biffy on a freezing cold day of a festival. We offered the advice to Sam that perhaps he may be better served by trying to get the crowd to respond to his music, rather than expecting it to happen the other way round.
It seems this hasn’t happened. I caught them supporting the Gaslight Anthem in Birmingham this week. They went down rather lamely. A few dozen people at the front were enthused; the rest politely got on with waiting for the headliners. McTrusty felt this was an insult to his art. ‘There’s just rows of blank expressions. I’d rather you booed us than nothing at all’, he whined, before shamefully adding ‘at least try to pretend you care about music’. Where did such a massive ego find room to grow? Possibly in the gaps where his talent should be.
Now, those people had paid £20 a head to go to a show on a mid-week night. I’d suggest that shows they do care about music. They just don’t care about Twin Atlantic’s. This is the fault of the band, not the audience. Twin Atlantic demanded a reaction with their words, not their music. That is unforgivable, and so pathetic it sets my teeth on edge with embrassment. Twin Atlantic failed to meake the audience care about them at all; simply put, they weren’t worth an opinion either way. They aren’t good enough to like or bad enough to hate. They are just there, floating on their own miasma of dullness.
I ran into a friend who attended the following night’s show in Glasgow. I asked him how it went. Great, he said, though the ‘singer from the support band was a bawbag’. McTrusty lambasted the crowd for not giving them the same reaction they’d been afforded in London.
Let’s see – three Twin Atlantic shows, same middling reaction. Can anyone see what the common denominator in all this is?
McTrusty is typical of a certain breed of band member. He takes himself and his ‘art’ far too seriously. Knock yourself out, but when you expect everyone else to do the same, that is when you hit problems. Why should they? As Morrissey sang, you just haven’t earned it yet, baby. And, like many an example of his species, he’ll end up working in a record shop or a Ticketmaster, bitter beyond belief that he never made it as he plays to smaller and smaller crowds and weeps himself to sleep every night whilst cradling a bottle of Wild Turkey and playing his demos. It’s textbook.
Twin Atlantic have played three shows in the last few weeks, and came out with less fans than when they went in. That’s just suicide. And, frankly, no-one will miss them and their adolescent nuisance of a frontman when they are gone.
Filed under: General Stuff Tagged: | bawbags, gaslight anthem, sam mctrusty, twin atlantic, twin atlantic gig reviews, twin atlantic live, who supported the gaslight anthem
you didn’t like them then?
I’ve heard better.
I believe teenagers like them, but they also like Skins and self-harming, so what do they know?
I do not like skins, or self harming. But I love Twin Atlantic. They’re amazing.
They opened their Birmingham set with a song which must have been six minutes long and almost disappeared up it’s own chorus trying to be clever.
They were eminently forgettable but if you’re going to go to the trouble of getting on a stage and playing music, perhaps you should wait for people to tell you they like it rather than think, wrongly, you can browbeat them into doing so.
Pompous little bell-end, he was.
Ha i noticed him saying that at rockness and thought im freezing wet and unfortunatly sober and 3 days without proper food aint feeling to good either so nah im gna stand still dude
didnt really realise the cheek of it till now though
still love their music though and the rest of the band are great guys at least the drmmer anyways
Spt on R – it was cold, wet and early, forgive us if we aren’t in the mood yet!
They are just uninspired.. I dont think that there is anything wrong with them as such, but if you asked me to listen to megadeth or twin atlantic it’s not going to be a hard choice
That’s it exactly Artur – they are deeply average yet seem to believe they are the re-incarnation of Nirvana. No.
yeh sam can be a bit cheeky and such but he’s a frontman it’s his job 2 try 2 get the crowd going.
they are talented and one of the best upcoming bands in the uk at the moment.
dont need 2 slag them off just cos it’s not your type of music.
cant wait to see wot other great things they’r gonna do this year
I would humbly suggest acting like a spoiled wanker won’t get the crowd going.
And as for his music, it really isn’t. Sub-Biffy bollocks. A really uninteresting band. Sorry Cat, but the only thing TA will do this year is annoy people.
think we’ll jst hav 2 agree to disagree here, just wanted to make the point that alot of people do enjoy listening to twin and that i didnt see the need to slag off a band that are doing well and doing it on their own terms.
defo aint annoyin me!
“he’ll end up working in a record shop or a Ticketmaster, bitter beyond belief that he never made it” – funny, that’s pretty much my opinion of music “journalists”
Twin Atlantic are a hard working band, with a decent sized fan base. One of the down-sides of becoming more well known is that people that aren’t a fan of your music will also begin to hear it. Unfortunately for them, those type of people are the most outspoken.
On the Gaslight shows, they were a support act, they were trying to get a reaction – any reaction. The crowd wasn’t their demographic at all.
It’s funny to read you writing about someone craving for attention and bitching about crowds, when you’re doing pretty much exactly the same.
I’m not even saying I’m a huge fan, but you’re deluded …
“they were trying to get a reaction – any reaction.” Anybody can do that. You could go on dressed iin Nazi uniforms then say you know where Maddie is but you aren’t telling. it takes skill and talent to get a positive reaction.
“The crowd wasn’t their demographic at all.” Don’t take the gig then.
“Unfortunately for them, those type of people are the most outspoken.” Actually, his problem was that they were silent.
Twin Atlantic are pish, their singer is hateable and they’ll be a footnote soon. End of.
DJ, you imply ELM is having a pop at twin Atlantic through bitterness and jealousy – we stood there at Birmingham completely open minded nd it wasn’t until I started whining about them that ELM remmbered he’d seen ‘em in Scotland.
Trust me, they were sub-Biffy, devoid of ideas and fronted by a guy who would eat himself if he was made of chocolate.
The Gaslight crowd wqas one of the most diverse I’ve seen – indie kids, punks, students, Mondeo man and woman, Springsteen fans – so your ‘demographic’ point doesn’t hold up.
Sorry mate, they’re gash.
AGREE.
Twin were not playing to there demographic. McTrusty is a great front man and having spent time with the man I can say he is a really nice guy too.
Before you try spending your time ripping into a young man and his dreams perhaps you could take the time to think what they’ve came from and what they are now. All in all i’d say they’ve done not bad and will continue to get bigger and bigger.
Absolutely spot on review, these guys are dire.
Cheers Raymie. It’s nothing personal against them, they just need an immediate and vicious attitude change.
“It’s nothing personal against them, they just need an immediate and vicious attitude change.”
That pretty much sums up the standard of writing in this rant.
That’s us told then
Love the piece, hate the piece, Twin Atlantic are awful and unloveable. All the words in the world won’t change that.
bet they`re not even real twins either , shysters.
And they didn’t look very maritime.
Frauds.
That was the thing – I WANTED to like them. Why wouldn’t I? They were Scottish and they were about to take up 45 minutes of my time.
As for jealousy, nope. Never learned to play anything and can’t sing. ELM is not founded on frustration. I had accepted I was never going to be a rock star before my first pube.
saw them supporting the subways back in ’08 and the lead twat did the same thing, after one song complained at the audience for not being enthused to watch a wannabe biffy clyro band play, whilst waiting for the significantly superior subways.
in fact, the reason for me stumbling upon this article was due to the fact that they crossed my mind whilst listening to the real biffy clyro and i wanted to check if someone had put this knob in his place yet, or if he had grown up. from these comments, it would appear neither.
If they are wondering why they haven’t made much headway L, two years annoying audiences might explain it!
The Subways – fine band.
What does ‘sub biffy’ mean?
A lesser Biffy Clyro. And they aren’t that good to begin with.
Thanks for clarifying. Now I know not to take anything you say seriously.
That last poster is def a member of the aforementioned shit band!
No I’m not howlinwhippet, I’m not that fussed about Twin Atlantic. But to say Biffy Clyro “aren’t that good to begin with” is ridiculous. Even if you don’t like their kind of music it is obvious that they are an extremely talented band. To say otherwise is just ignorant.
It really isn’t Jamie.
The ‘extremely talented musicians’ line is trite. So they can play their instruments. Whoopty-fucking-do. I kinda take that as a given from a band.
Musically, they are all right. No more.
So take the fanboy glasses off and accept other people have a right to dislike music you do like and vice cersa. Somebody doesn’t like a band you do. Grow up and live with it.
Well said. Biffy Clyro are utter tosh. i hate that wee hairy guy. And his guitar strap is too tight.
If we’re slagging off peoples appearance whippet. I seem to remember that you were wearing some pretty fucking terrible shoes last time i saw your band……
Those shoes rule and you know it!
Fair enough Kirsty-Anne. And I’m glad you don’t like Skins.
why do you care so much? i’m pretty sure you’ve got all the cds, posters and t-shirts. you probably travel hundreds of miles to even catch an acoustic set from the man they call sam.
you my friend need to get out, have sex, drink a beer and stop moaning about something you DON’T HAVE to like.
silly man.
Hey there,
Noticed a couple of wee typos in your blog.
“Who represent and clear and present danger to your synapses.”
“Twin Atlantic failed to meake the audience care about them at all;”
Don’t know if you can be bothered changing them. We all know what you mean to say. Just thought I’d point them out.
All the best,
Bob
Well, what can I say. I apologise for not knowing that Sam was just following his dreams.
Who’d have thought acting like a c*nt onstage fronting a dreary, by-numbers rock band would have been anyone’s dream, but there you go. Credit to Sam for achieving it.
set down your laptop, pick up a guitar and try forming a band and then stop being a ballbag.
you’ve really upset the landfill indie mob here, ELM…..
Ach, they’ll grow out of it Whippet. I’m sure there were people who felt than Northern Uproar and the Gyres were destined for greater things!
do you remember the drummer out of Morthern Uproar in an interview claiming that he was going to buy a casino with his 1st album proceeds? Oh dear…..
howlinwinnet what a cunt you are. The drummers called keith a fucking good mate of mine he was 18 and supporting paul weller and touring places like japan when he said that about 12 fucking years ago what apart from being a cunt were you doing aged 18 you fucking prick come to fucking heald green and insult keith chadwick cunt i fucking dare you.
I can’t speak for Whippet, but when I was 18 I was busy laughing my tits off at how bad Northern Uproar were.
That’s too funny to even answer. Great command of the english language, though…….
Oh and when I was 18 I was pumping your maw, if you must know……….