KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * * *
Between them, lovable music rogues Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli have been in some great bands. The former is from the Screaming Trees and a crucial contributor to Queens of the Stone Age over the years, and the latter is an Afghan Whig and Twilight Singer.
They've done joint projects in the past and visited here together last year, so it's no surprise the pair's first album as the Gutter Twins is a triumph.
On opener The Stations, the climactic crescendo of strings which verges on being almost too over-the-top signals their intent to make rousing and swirling music for the soul. There's also a ghostly and spooky tension conjured up by the combination of Lanegan's beautifully abused voice alongside Dulli's soaring and eerie lilt.
God's Children unfolds gracefully and works itself into a warm, smouldering frenzy; raunchy first single Idle Hands grinds and hisses along; and the soaring I Was In Love With You is Dulli's sweetest and saddest offering.
Lanegan's still got demons lurking in his life, as outlined in All Misery and Idle Hands, and it makes for some passionate tunes. It's hard to believe he could better his work with the group Soulsavers from last year, and the album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land, but with the Gutter Twins he has.
Label: Sub Pop/Rhythmethod
Verdict: Lanegan and Dulli's gutter music is a triumph
