SOUND BITES

  From humble alt-rock beginnings upon formation 15 years or so ago, Twin Atlantic have flirted with different levels of mainstream concession most of their career. Upon gaining a sizeable fan base performing a kind of Biffy Clyro cosplay on their home turf (Scotland, as anyone who's heard singer/guitarist Sam McTrusty will easily assertain), they developed their sound to include the occasional big pop hook or plaintive ballad on their 2014 breakthrough Great Divide . They then steered toward a more muscular sound on the underrated GLA in 2017 before releasing the much more pop-centric Power just a couple of months before the world fell into a pandemic-induced stupor. Twin Atlantic's sixth album, then, arrives as we're all still trying to make sense of it all; this is just as true for McTrusty as the rest of us, as Transparency was created in a whirlwind of plague times, fatherhood, Brexit and a host of other adversities, not the least of which being the departure of the g...

After a debut EP nearly a decade ago that sounded like a cleaned-up Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic have slowly incorporated more and more pop sensibilities into their sound; Heart and Soul , lead single from their previous album in 2014, approached Def Leppard levels of bigchorusdom (yes, I just invented that word). Now, on their third album, they've taken it in the other direction; while there is still a fair amount of pop at the core of the songs, there's also a fair amount of snarl. The grooves are dirtier, the guitars more prone to attack, and Sam McTrusty even lets out some screams on opening rager Gold Elephant: Cherry Alligator . It's not night and day from their previous work, but Twin Atlantic prove on GLA that they've got more fire in their bellies than some would give them credit for. September 9, 2016 • Red Bull Highlights No Sleep • Overthinking • Whispers