Artist: Twin Peaks
Album: Wild Onion
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Label: Grand Jury Music
Chicago-based teen rockers Twin Peaks released their delicious sophomore album Wild Onion earlier this month.
With this release, they solidified their place in the garage rock scene, right along acts such as The Orwells and Nobunny. Yet what separates Twin Peaks from their contemporaries is their ability to blend the new world with the old. Wild Onion is chocked-full of lyrics about how weird it is to be a teenager coupled with some good old-fashioned shake-your-ass rock and roll.
In an interview with NME earlier this year, Twin Peaks cited their influences for Wild Onion as rock legends like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys. At first, a group of four 19-year-olds fresh out of high school trying to channel groups as massive as The Beatles sounds a little laughable. Yet, Twin Peaks doesn’t try to mimic the greats, instead this quartet pays homage to their favorite acts while still making music for this decade.
As a result of such diverse influences, each track off of Wild Onion has its own distinct style. The album itself doesn’t have one consistent sound instead you can hear the band experiment with different musical styles and sounds throughout all 16 songs. Some groovy riffs and Jagger-esque screaming can be found on tracks such as “I Found A New Way” and “Good Lovin’”. On the flipside, in “Mirror of Time” lead singer Cadien Lake James retires the screaming and transforms his vocals into something as sunny and sweet as the Beach Boys track “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”. The group even ventures out into a soulful break between rocking out with the one-minute track “Stranger World”, which simply fades in some jazzy saxophone that cleanses your palate for more catchy hooks and infectious riffs.
Although Twin Peaks like their fair share of rocking out, the group truly shines when they slow down the tempo on Wild Onion. The band has the talent of the perfect slow groove mastered on tracks such as “Sweet Thing”, which is the kind of song you wish you could’ve slow danced to in high school. James’s deep voice crooning the words, “Oh baby, I’ve been thinking all about you lately”, coupled with an infectious guitar riff is more than enough to make your inner teenage girl melt.
Overall, Wild Onion is like a musical box of chocolates with each song being a sweet surprise from the next. This group of unassuming Chicago teens prove that rock and roll doesn’t have an age restriction.
Twin Peaks will be bringing their throwback style of garage rock to San Diego at The Soda Bar on November 13th. Buy tickets here!