Thursday , March 28 2024
The Twindows

Music Review: The Twindows – ‘Valkyrie 2.0’ Packs Punk Punch

The Twindows recently dropped Valkyrie 2.0, an 11-track full-length album. Here’s the skinny on The Twindows: They play garage-flavored punk rock; they’re based in Philadelphia; and their music is cap-a-pie impressive.

The band is made up of Aster Grimm (vocals, guitar), Kyle “Shaggs” Anderson (guitar), Oskar Daoud (drums), and Kouqj (bass). Initially a diversion, the band began as an acoustic duo called Key of V and mutated into a band named after two window fans whose purpose was to withdraw smoke from the room the band practiced in.

As far as may be ascertained, The Twindows are unsigned, which speaks volumes about the current state of the music industry. Major labels should be crouched in timorous reverence before The Twindows, imploring them to make their mark on a record deal.

Put simply, the band’s sound is brutal, tight, and deliciously pulverizing. And Grimm’s voice is so buff it hurts, akin to a hybrid of Janis Joplin, Joan Jett, Eartha Kitt, and Cruella de Vil, all on performance-enhancing drugs.

Of the 11 tracks on Valkyrie 2.0, subjectivity assumes control when trying to settle on the best. My preferences include the opening track, “Like My Music.” Propelled by hurricane-like ferocity, the tune’s battering energy is relentless. Grimm’s Slavic Barbie voice cuts like a fingernail slicing steel.

“Forgiven” starts off with dirty, potent guitars and a polyrhythmic pulse rumbling with supercharged oomph. Daoud’s drumming is spectacular, while Grimm’s vocals shred the atmosphere above the reckless dynamics of the granular guitars. “Ska Death” rides a hyperspeed reggae flavor infused with roiling punk bridges. Bubble gum pop vocal harmonies provide crazy sonic hues, giving the tune a prim contrasting dimension.

The dark, resonant harmonics of “Instigator,” grinding and harsh, gouge the ether, as Grimm’s actinic Power Puff Girl tones keen overhead. “Sleepycore” slows things down a bit but retains a petrifying muscularity tinged with elegant harmonics that form a wall of grimy shimmering sound, like The Cranberries on steroids.

Valkyrie 2.0 is inarguably titanic in scale and potency. Hormonal exuberance, unbridled dynamism, and Grimm’s crazed-goddess vocals dispense punk rock rife with the smells of fast food, perfume, and sweat. In short, The Twindows really have it going on.

Follow The Twindows on thetwindows.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

https://youtu.be/7luM8LAcfis

About Randall Radic

Left Coast author and writer. Author of numerous true crime books written under the pen-name of John Lee Brook. Former music contributor at Huff Post.

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