Twinetime

It will take about ten seconds into Twinemen's third studio disc to recognize the distinctive "low music" Morphine sound. "The End of My Dreams" kicks off with that familiar lugubrious bassline, in the pocket drums and a generally eerie, even nightmarish vibe. Laurie Sargent's wistful vocals are the band's special sauce slathered over a sandwich of the ex-Morphine Dana Colley's foghorn sax and Billy Conway's spatial percussion. Notes included with press copies of the disc describe a recording process where these tunes sprung out of jams and were later hammered into songs. That accounts for the unconventional structures, most of which don't conform to typical verse-chorus-bridge parameters. The album's blurry black and white photos accurately reflect the music which is similarly hazy, murky and often experimental. Colley runs his sax through processing that often distorts it into resembling a guitar at times ("Eddie Edison") and even an entire horn section ("Come Clean"). The band pulls, pushes, tugs, expands and contracts its established sound throughout, transforming it into a somewhat funhouse-mirror image of itself. Occasionally that makes for uneasy listening as in "Come Clean," which never seems to find its groove. But when everything gels as on the very Morphine-ish "Wrecking Ball," this is some of the group's most affecting music. Sargent's emotionally chilly vocals shift from dreamy to poppy to ominous as they dart between Colley's thick sax lines. The group's unique mix of jazz, funk and indie rock clicks best on "Calamity J." and the opening "...Dreams." At seven minutes, "Oona," the disc's closing track, is its longest, sounding the most like a free-form jam that words were added to afterwards. That brings a particularly dreamy and slightly awkward quality to the proceedings. These minor key songs along with stream of consciousness styled lyrics make for a challenging and often enjoyable experience, but one that takes at least a few spins to appreciate.