Live: The Twilight Sad @ Ruby Lounge

The Twilight Sad
Ruby Lounge
10th February
4½ Stars

Having just kicked off the tour with a frenzied show in their native Glasgow, frontman James Graham reminisces: “…we came back to Scotland, and we played in a place called Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, and it was my Mum and Dad, and four of our friends that were at the gig, yet we were in New York the week before, playing to about a hundred-and-something people in a packed out venue”. The journey thus far has not been meteoric but with steadfast honesty and a clear dedication, The Twilight Sad have gradually built up a die-hard and adoring fanbase.

Despite ditching the accordion because “it broke”, the new album does little to build on their trademark melancholy shoegaze, but this has never been a problem for Twilight Sad fans. In fact their consistency is their most impressive achievement, showcased in an ear-splitting and intensely heartfelt set. “One thing I’ve liked about what people have said about the new album is that it’s pretty much unmistakably a Twilight Sad album… I’m glad that it came across that way” says Graham. “People go through ups and downs, and you need to go through them to appreciate the ups, and I think dark music can be uplifting as well”.

Crowd-pleasers ‘And She Would Darken the Memory’ and ‘Cold Days from the Birdhouse’ from their stunning debut Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters blended sweet vocals and solid drums with a fiercely distorted and amorphous guitar that surprisingly loses nothing in their reduced instrumentation onstage. The set is fraught and monumental, though judging by the crowd’s reaction it seems like they’re preaching to the choir.

On the band’s growing popularity, Graham says “I thought that was quite a cool thing, that people wanted to know who the fuck we were. Worse thing is they still don’t know who the fuck we are.”

The Twilight Sad – Another Bed