Twin Atlantic, Vivarium

Posted on 12th Sep 09 by Jane Ward | 0

Vivarium is the debut mini-album from Twin Atlantic, otherwise known as Sam McTrusty, Barry McKenna, Ross McNae and Craig Kneale. In case the names haven’t already given it away, the band formed in Glasgow in March 2007 and by December that year released their first single Audience And Audio.

Twin Atlantic, Vivarium

It’s been a great year for Scottish music; We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Xcerts, Broken Records and There Will Be Fireworks have all released acclaimed albums this year and with plenty more on the way The Scots show no signs of slowing down.

Vivarium is only eight tracks long, but this by no means takes away from the album. Granted a couple more would have been nice, but all eight tracks are really fantastic and at no stage do you feel like you’re listening to filler. Every song is really well written and produced, proving it’s better to have a few really solid tracks than loads of adequate ones.

The album straddles the fence between pop and punk, something that not too many European bands do all that often, or all that well. The States have produced  bands like The Ataris, Fall Out Boy and Yellow Card, and Twin Atlantic could easily mimic their success and their appeal, meaning they have the potential to be commercially successful but it’ll still be cool to like them. They have a similar sound to their American counterparts, very furious but at the same time really polished and very catchy, but the singer’s telltale Scottish accent, which is layered thickly over every track, is a constant reminder that the band reside a lot closer to home.

The opening track Lightspeed, is one of the heavier songs on the album. It’s very powerful, full of sexy bass and really infectious. It’s a perfect track to begin the album, it sets the bar high and draws you in. The single Audience And Audio has a slightly different feel. Being the band’s first single from their 2007 EP A Guidance From Colour, it shows how the band have evolved over the past couple of years, developing a more definite sound. It’s slightly muddled as a song. It starts off with a very Britpop sound, but by the end of the song the guitars break down into rolling heavy metal which seems a little at odds with the rest of the song.

The band have changed a great deal since their original EP, and Carribean War Syndrome is possibly the finest example of this. It’s a very mature song with a kind of Incubus meets Jimmy Eat World sound to it. It’s slightly more melodic than the rest of the album but builds up to a powerful climax.

The album has incredible momentum up until Better Weather, one of the slower tracks on the album. It’s a very sweet song and showcases the band’s talent for a different kind of song writing. Being the last track on the album it rounded the record off nicely with a healthy dose of melancholy and leaves you wanting more. 

I was really blown away by this album, it’s hard not to like it. There has been a worrying shortage of really quality bands of late. If you’re sick of listening to glorified ringtones or having to hear about the latest 13-year-old flash in the pan you’ll love this album as well.

Vivarium is due for release September 14th 2009, Audience And Audio is available now as a digital download.

Drop-d Rating: 7/10

Twin Atlantic

Tags: broken records, fall out boy, Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, The Ataris, The Xcerts, There Will Be Fireworks, Twin Atlantic, Twin Atlantic Vivarium, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Yellow Card