The Twilight Sad’s “There’s a Girl in the Corner”

Again, I’m going to attempt to keep things brief. This is my second selection of the night, probably my last, and it’s also courtesy of the Spotify shuffle. Random is the night’s theme, and that’s lead me to Scottish indie act The Twilight Sad, and their post-punk single “There’s a Girl in the Corner.”

I’m going to start by saying I saw these Scots perform a few years back, as openers for The Cure at the Hollywood Bowl. Apparently, Robert Smith is a huge fan of these guys. Admittedly, I don’t recall a whole heck of a lot from that show, which is unfortunate. But I’m liking what I hear tonight.

“There’s a Girl in the Corner” came out in 2014, so this one would’ve made the cut for that live performance. They’ve also got a show coming up at the Teragram Ballroom on May 30th, so maybe I’ll get another chance to experience them properly.

Anyway, there’s a bit of a moody, broody groove to this one, which puts them in good company with the aforementioned. It also falls in that Interpol / Editors gene pool of shady ripples and darkly waves, marked by that pervasive post-punk edge. It even skirts some gothic corners, hypnotic and hexed, while skimming the shoegaze shimmers. The densely layered guitars can attest to that. They’re noisy and loud, feedback in full force, with enough reverb to keep you on your toes. And a foreboding bassline rolls in a slow-burn rumbles throughout, holding focus, shoving the whole thing through the dour thick of it.

Having rediscovered The Twilight Sad through random selection, I’m kind of bummed I didn’t get them sorted back in the day. I’m really enjoying the shady intensity of “There’s a Girl in the Corner.” And it’s got me listening again to the accompanying album, “Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave,” the title alone, which speaks volumes about these guys.

Well, the upside to all this is they’ve got a new album that just came out, titled “It Won/t Be Like This All the Time” (the slash is intentional). And they’re performing in a few months. So the timing’s just right to get back into the noisy gloom of The Twilight Sad.” On that note, I’ll leave you with “There’s a Girl in the Corner” for your sullen entertainment. Enjoy!

“There’s a Girl in the Corner” from the 2014 album “Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave.”