There might never have been a more ironic album title outside of Poison's Greatest Hits, maybe. Twilight implies darkness, tranquility, some kind of creepy vibe, but this is the most ridiculously happy music I have ever heard. I tell you, it makes Andrew WK look like Leonard Cohen. In the event you've built a tolerance to Broken Social Scene's incredible high, we've got your next fix. Only this time, the happy is stepped up about six or seven notches, staking claim for feel good album of the summer. That said, the problem with Twilight is that every song sounds pretty much exactly the same, and it gets old pretty fast. I understand that the trombone is their signature and so it has to be upfront in the mix, but it would really benefit the disc if the tromboner would sit out a few tracks absence makes the heart grow fonder. It would be fantastic if the brass were used as a crescendo piece instead of a lead instrument but as it is, it's a bit overwhelming.
Indeed Twilight is over-orchestrated to the point that it sounds like Neil Diamond should be the vocalist. He and his studded rock-glove would feel right at home taking their cue from the timpani at the beginning of "Caught in a Crosswalk".
Plus, the indie-twee-pop stereotypes are all over the place, like the really upfront hand claps on the first song, third song, eleventh song... It's alright, Baskervilles, just let the fans do the clapping. It really does work better that way.
"Slip a Little and Boom!" is one of the better tracks because it's really basic. There are embellishments in the form of string-sounding synth and U2-style delay guitar, but for once these polishes only serve to enhance the music. The thing that ruins it is the disco-punk Franz Ferdinand drumbeat. Nobody told the Baskervilles that it was 2008, and that Against Me! had already shoveled the last pile of dirt on that beat with "Stop!"
Indeed this is the kind of cheese Chumbawumba spun a few years ago, and it's bound to have the same effect. Although it is infectious, nothing sticks and there is no doubt that it will be forgotten. My advice is to take this album like whiskey: a quick mood enhancement, and then kind of avoid it for the rest of the night.
Track List:
1. A Little More Time
2. Daylight to Twilight
3. Smash
4. Caught in a Crosswalk
5. Everybody Looks Not Everybody Finds
6. Slip a Little and Boom!
7. Staying There For a While
8. Have You Seen Them?
9. It's a Red Fade That Leaves in a Warm Way
10. Where Did My Summer Go?
11. Sweet and Sour
12. Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
13. Moves
14. The Apartment