The Twilight Sad - "Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards it Did" EP

The Twilight Sad - Mapped By What Surrounded Them (Alternate) (Fat Cat 2008)

The Twilight Sad - "Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards it Did" EP / Fat Cat

Counting our year-end lists last year, this will mark the fourth time in a year and a half that Glasgow's Twilight Sad have made an appearance on this website. We've covered almost everything they've released, but don't be fooled; the illusion is twofold, because they bring a lot of the same songs back and we're lazy. It's not intentional, it's just that they seem to be making all the right noises without being too intrusive in that Kasabian kind of way. Haha, remember them?

So here's another EP, this one six songs but - surprise! - most of them are reworkings of jigs your 15-year-old white noise-loving self already knows and loves well: "Cold Days From the Birdhouse," "And She Would Darken the Memory," "Another Red Sparowes-esque Song Title But Somehow the Song is Still Listenable," you know, all the hits. Which I guess is understandable, a kind of belated victory lap for a record that had last year's grandstands applauding politely if not painting their bellies to spell out "TWILIGHT SAD" all in a row.

And I'm all for alternate versions of songs as long as there's a legitimate difference (as opposed to recorded versus "live!" which has the added effect of... the crowd). Some of the best work The Smashing Pumpkins ever did was never recorded to take an easy example from my memory, and that would've been the case for this band too had they not actually gone through and utilized ex-Aereogramme bassist and Campbell McNeil or My Latest Novel violinist Laura McFarlane. All of these versions exercise restraint that isn't often found on last year's full-length Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, which is both refreshing in perspective (ostensibly the band's intention) and pleasing to see that they can be cautious when they want to.

It's not that these versions are better; in fact, most are inferior to the originals given that we came to know The Twilight Sad as a noise band that evolved into a hybrid of Scottish post-folk pioneered by Arab Strap and harrowing jet engine roars courtesy My Bloody Valentine. It's this balance between sheer noise, the adrenaline of sound, and that sad-bastard melody-come-easy touch that made the band so enrapturing. Here, it's James Graham's Scottish burr that grabs most of the attention and it's a lucky thing that he's talented at exploiting his limited range; otherwise we would be praying at this point for the instrumental versions. Not the case here. Graham's rolling Rs and distinctive accent are just one more appealing aspect of the band's sound as a whole. Without him, the songs are still good... But it's just not the same.

I mean, that's the whole point of this EP, innit? Things just aren't the same. Can't say it's a bridge to the sound of the next record or that it's some kind of dramatic change in direction because, frankly, it isn't (and/or "who knows?"). It has the same effect as Glider if that particular EP had come after Loveless rather than a year before. But even Glider has one of the Valentines' greatest moments in the title-track, and I'll be damned if the inebriated guitars that enter 15 seconds into "Mapped By What Surrounded Them" aren't my favorite sound of 2008. If this review were more punctual, I would've just said this: "The guitars on 'Mapped By What Surrounded Them'." Eight words for a six-song EP. One day I'll learn to edit. Go get this in the meantime and see what I'm talking about.