Chicago, Il 02.02.03

Dully named live album from foursome composed of the two-thirds of Morphine that still walks this earth (Mark Sandman, alas, collapsed and died on stage some years back), Laurie Sargent, who used to sing for Face To Face, the Boston pop band, not F2F, the hardcore band, and a bassist who is not mentioned on the band’s website. The arrangements are very similar to Morphine’s bluesy late-night fare – low sax, low guitar, low vocals – and in most places compelling. Sargent lays back on the vocals admirably. Think of Twinemen as a one-band tribute to Morphine with just a few covers and many new originals “in the style of”. While CD1 holds the attention, some of CD2 allows it to wander. The indexing allows some between-songs chatter two start on one track and bleed over to the next, potentially causing awkward segues … be ready.

CD1
1. Slow, funky
2. Nice mid-uptempo groove, as melodic as such a low-pitched mix can be
3. Sargent’s lazily floating ululations are a great counterpoint to Dana Colley’s plaintive vocals and the bass and sax provide an echo of this same dynamic
4. A sinuous, funky tune with a bit of “live” atmosphere up front and at the end
5. Slow, sexy groove; Sargent’s vocals are featured, as is what I believe to be Colley playing two saxophones simultaneously; a little “fucking” I the lyrics
6. Anglo-francais lyrics; arrangement builds up a head of steam

CD2
1. Conway drawls laconically
2. An old Morphine tune; seems lifeless though
3. A mid-uptempo stomp with a suitably upfront vocal
4. Key lyric: “what if I wake up”; sadly appropriate to this song
5. Lame-o lead in to chugging Morphine tune; Colley honks away on the sax between verses; crowd chatter at end
6. sneaky … you think that the vocals could be more vibrant given that lyrics are about ex being with someone else … but then the mood is masterfully set for the ultimately schadenfreude denouement of the situation; crowd chatter at beginning
7. Old-fashioned, maybe sexist, but undoubtedly cookin’ in the metaphorical sense
8. Limp Morphine song