Product Description

The Gutter Twins release their long-awaited debut in the shape of 'Saturnalia', a brooding album that takes in the genres of classic rock and blues without shying away from the use of orchestral strings along the way. Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age), with his trademark deep,husky growl, and Greg Dulli (Twilight Singers), who veers towards the other end of the vocal spectrum, work perfectly together. Tracks include 'Circle The Fringes' and 'Idle Hands'.

Track Listing

1. Stations
2. God's Children
3. All Misery/Flowers
4. Body
5. Idle Hands
6. Circle The Fringes
7. Who Will Lead Us
8. Seven Stories Underground
9. I Was In Love With You
10. Bete Noire
11. Each To Each
12. Front Street

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #597 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-03
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Saturalia, the debut album by The Gutter Twins, brings together two long-standing veterans of the '90s alternative rock scene--Greg Dulli, the soulful voice behind the Afghan Whigs, and Mark Lanegan of psych-tinged grungers Screaming Trees and latterly, Queens of the Stone Age. Both gentlemen being, shall we say, personalities, Saturnalia could easily have come off as the musical version of the town that ain't big enough for the both of them. Agreeably, though, the pair appear to have learnt to live--indeed, thrive--in one another's company. The name The Gutter Twins may be something of a misnomer: "The Stations" and "Idle Hands" might unfurl in a thunderstorm of sludgy, blackened guitars, but there's also stately orchestral arrangements and quite grandiose, anthemic touches that suggest Saturnalia is more than a sleazy busman's holiday. Mostly, the pair let their vocals echo one another, which is a strange choice: their voices are so distinct, and it would be nice to hear a little more interplay. Still, at this album's level best--"God's Children", perhaps--it simultaneously recalls the psychedelic gospel of Screaming Trees' epic Dust and the gallows-bound soul of Afghan Whigs' Black Love, and as any fan of either band could tell you, that's a great thing. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Dull!
There's really nothing to say about this album but.......it's dull. God's Children & Idle Hands are the only 2 tracks worth listening to, the rest is utter tuneless garbage.

Suprisingly excellent
Some superb reviews here, not much more you can add really. A fine album, and so much more than "Idle Hands", which as a single is quite misleading as to how rest of the album sounds. Having purchased it on the strength of the Screaming Trees/Queens of the Stone Age connection, I was perhaps expecting something a bit heavier. I honestly only expected something that sounded like a QOTSA side project, somewhere between Masters of Reality's "Deep in the hole" and the Desert Sessions 7/8. But Saturnalia stands on its own just fine. It's terrific hearing Lanegan's vocals again, and probably the best album i've heard this year. Just don't expect anything as up-tempo as "Hangin' tree".

Sympathy for the devil
As always with these two masters of American Gothic, the sacred and the secular entwine like two sides of the same coin. Lanegan can sound like the very devil, his gravelled growl rising from the depths to add weight to Dulli's lapsed choirboy croon. Their writing styles are also complementary: Dulli's deft way with a rock song produces some of the album's smoother moments, like the swooping Radiohead-meets-Alice-in-Chains "God's Children" - while Lanegan gives us tracks like the lycanthropic "Bete Noire".

When they write together, they produce everything from rip-roaring single "Idle Hands" to the album's centrepiece - the swirling, ritualistic "Circle The Fringes". Probably the album's only weak point is the rather dated "Each To Each", over-decorated with mellotron and synths. Emotionally, though, it feels like a redemptive closing track, the light at the end of the long dark tunnel.

Then, abruptly, we come out into the light and birdsong and acoustic guitars welcome us back...into hell. Closer "Front Street" is perhaps the darkest song on this penumbral work; seductive, weary, yet glinting with malevolent glamour. When Lanegan snarls "we're gonna have us some fun", you know he isn't talking about a trip to the seaside.