I was having a discussion with one of my college tutors recently. She was debating with me over the qualities of shoegazing. Her argument was that shoegazing is all about being shy, introverted and fey. She insisted that excessive emotion in shoegaze should be hidden behind a wall of long, floppy hair. My tutor remained adamant that many modern bands tagged within this genre are, above all, noise-makers rather than shoegazers.
Not that this discussion especially matters when it comes to The Twilight Sad; just that it’s difficult to slot them neatly into the shoegaze genre as many have done. It doesn’t sit right with me to call them shoegazers; the guitar-work is similar, but the highly accented vocals of Scottish singer James Graham are far too prominent and emotive for me to accept him gazing at any shoes when singing. As a vocalist, Graham is blessed with a wonderful Scottish brogue complete with tongue-rolling on the letter ‘R’. His vocals have soared highly in the past – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters featuring some wonderfully sentimental tracks alongside epic anthems – but on the lead song of their The Wrong Car EP he’s able to take his lyrics to new heights. Graham sounds remorseful for the girl and her “pretty little dress all covered in dirt” on “The Wrong Car,” although he never sounds detached from his musings. This is melancholy music that demands repeated listens.
The same can be said for “Throw Yourself in the Water Again,” but perhaps to a lesser extent. The arrangement in this track is messier, with swirling guitars bathing a heavy drum beat. Again, Graham’s vocals are emotive, although they are mixed a little more consistently with the shoegaze genre here, submerged and difficult to decipher at times. The second half of the EP is made up of remixes of past tunes. Mogwai, of whom The Twilight Sad has toured with on several occasions, have given “The Room” an electronic lick of paint. Your opinion of the remix will depend on how much you liked the original. Real drums have been replaced with electronic drum noises this time around and Graham’s vocals have been altered with robotics. It’s a faithful reworking of the original without adding much. Finally, the Errors remix of “Reflection of the Television” is a radical change from the distorted original. Again, electronics are in full-force here and the reworking of the song makes it into a great track to dance to in a club.
Perhaps it’s because there’s only two new tracks on The Wrong Car EP, but it seems to be over a little too soon for my tastes. Nevertheless, there’s enjoyment to be had with the two remixes, and both “The Wrong Car” and “Throw Yourself in the Water Again” are as touching and emotional as anything previously released in their catalogue. I’m still not convinced that their music is shoegazing, but it doesn’t particularly matter when they’re making gripping, emotional music regardless of the limitations of genre.
