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"I'm a pretty lucky guy, pretty fortunate,"
readily admits Matthew Rain from behind a
pasta bowl filled with kalamata olives and,
among other things, blackened tofu. The reca
pitulative declaration was in reference to the
many blessings his band Twin Tigers can count
despite their brief tenure. The quartet features
bassist/percussionist Aimee Morris, drummer
Richard Young and guitarist Enoch Bledsoe,
with Rain assuming guitar and vocal duties.
The results of the fledgling local collabora
tion can be found on the recently released
Curious Faces Violet Future. The EP format
forces bands to impress, or at least arrive
at the point rather quickly, and hopefully,
subtract through stringent self-editing the
filler and fluff that oftentimes pollutes full-
length releases. Recorded and mastered by
Joel Hatstat (Pegasus-XL, ex-Cinemechanica),
the offering doesn't sound like something
assembled in haste by musicians still getting
comfortable with each other. The record fea
tures hypnotic, humid music that washes over
listeners in vibrating waves—sometimes gritty
yet glamorous, but always affecting and infec
tious. Curious Faces Violet Future has been
well-received by all the right acronyms, hav
ing charted on CMJ and recently featured on
NPR's Second Stage program. Not enough to
incite an "OMG" reaction from the Twin Tigers
frontman, who prefers keeping things in their
proper perspective, especially when fresh off a
tour that was a mixed bag of warm receptions
and unfortunate busts.
"I was really surprised by the outpour
of support here, but really happy about it
because this is the best thing I've ever been
involved with. I made this record at a time
when I felt I had a lot to say," Rain shares
placidly.
Thankfully, it's all worth hearing. Loud
and tense without being angst-riddled, sexy
without being ridiculous, the six songs are an
impressive introduction to a band that fuses
lo-fi art-pop with subtle doses of that genre
we'll tag '90s alternative rock. In Rain's opin
ion, "It's a mixture of pretty sounds and noisy,
dirtier sounds and trying to strike a balance
with that, as effectively as possible." With
regard to the fusion of disparate influences
and the dynamic of the performers, Rain con
fesses, "We try to keep it sort of at an organic
level where it's not contrived. The record
itself was recorded live except for the vocals,
which we overdubbed. We recorded it to
tape—scrapping the ProTools until mixing—
extremely cheap, in just a couple of days..."
The questions of motivation and inspiration
for the former Psychic Heart, who watched
that band essentially devolve and die a natural
death, are easily answered, despite not having
been pondered previously: he fell in love with
Aimee Morris.
"I guess I've never really thought of it this
way, but if you were to really break it down,
if I hadn't met Aimee, I would never have
done this; I know that for a fact. I would have
done something, and maybe it would have
been equally great, but it's doubtful to me,"
allows Rain. So, Morris keeps the time and
serves as this Tiger's muse? "I wouldn't say
muse," he says, adding, "I think of her as my
equal. Maybe these are my songs, but she's an
extremely talented person. She has her own
ability to create beautiful, awesome things.
Likewise, if she wasn't doing this she would be
doing something that was really great."
There is talent, love and momentum within
Twin Tigers, so the taste of imminent success
must be coating their feline lips, no? "It takes
time. It doesn't matter that we're not busting
the doors open right now because that's not
the purpose. This isn't even our first album.
This is an EP to set the wheels into motion.
I try not to worry about it too much. If it's
good, people will find out about it. I don't
think that anything really great can remain
a secret," declares Rain confidently. So. this
is it. Twin Tigers for life? "It's never been
like, I'll do this and if it's not working out by
this time I’ll go get the real job, or whatever.
It's never been like that in my mine because
I already know what makes me happy, and
making more money isn’t going to get me
closer to that. I'm already doing that [making
music], and that is what I've always wanted
to do. Yeah, maybe I won't want to sleep
on floors all across the country, or maybe,
for health reasons, I would have to do other
things, but that's definitely the dream: to
always create."
Athens will get multiple opportunities to
catch the band this month: Wednesday at the
40 Watt Club and then again next Friday in
an AthFest headlining slot at the same venue.
But what of the long-term plans for the band?
Is there another tour in the works? "Probably
not a full-on tour. We'll have a bunch of
one-offs until September. I mean, gas prices
have completely changed the way you have
to approach a tour. It's fine to lose money—
I'm OK with that because you're doing what
you love to do, and in a way a tour is like a
dream vacation. You get to travel, play and
be with the people you want to be around.
We're putting toqether a few dates with Dead
Confederate, so September... something
will be going on then," assures Rain. And
hopefully for several Septembers to come.
Flagpole's fingers are crossed.
David Eduardo
WHO: Twin Tigers, Colour Revolt
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Wednesdayjune 11
HOW MUCH: $8 (21+). $10(18+)
V )
26 FLAGPOLE.COM JUNE 11,2008
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