This
Bay Area duo have been nicknamed 'The Blacker Keys' by the US
press, but their lo-fi, rough-hewn folk reels with a deliciously
absinthian aftertaste and a bluntly poetic charm that marks these
Two Gallants of a different feather. With a voice as sharp as
the teeth of a saw and a richly romantic but unsentimental worldview
colouring his lyrics- mostly bitter wisdoms and sour arguments
sung with a winning absence of mercy- singer/guitarist Adam Stephens
recalls Jack White, or the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle. The
booze-fuelled strums and intricate, chiming melodies evoke a
warm tone, which only hones the bite of couplets like "The
lost cause of nerves runs away with my words/And I'm gay as a
choirboy for you." A gloriously passionate, valorous, booze-stewed
stumble; their next will be recorded for Saddle Creek, home to
Bright Eyes. -Stevie Chick / Mojo (4 star rating)
__________________________ |
Gruff
sounding troubadours toting guitars and harmonica racks tend
to get typecast as Bob Dylan soundalikes. Yet for this young
duo from San Francisco, the comparison is legitimate. The
Throes, is refreshingly ungarnished garage-folk, and as with
Dylan, storytelling is paramount. - Julie Simmons / Harp
__________________________ |
|
Two
Gallants' debut CD release, The Throes, is so earthy you
might have to dust soil from it before sliding it into your player.
It is a contemporary blues-based folk (which in this case, shouldn't
put you off) record, and it's the work of two 21-year-old artists
(not "artists" in any casual sense, but explicitly)
from San Francisco. First of all, Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel
are storytellers (they take their name from the sixth story in
Joyce's Dubliners). Their material harkens back more specifically,
though, to the authorial territory of Raymond Carver and Richard
Ford, writers who early in their careers were branded "dirty
realists" -- a term they grew to distrust, but one which
neatly describes such blues-folk rebels as these. Two Gallants
tell brutal tales of faded prospects and broken promises, of
wrecked romances and lives departing along twisted tracks; these
are stories of a grave and inevitable disappointment, and from
where youth gathers such bleak histories, one might perhaps best
wonder another time. There's an unforced literacy at work
here, and in the music, a barely tempered urgency. (...) This
is distinctly an American music. It takes its lead from American
backcountry blues.
- John Davidson / Pop
Matters
__________________________ |
|
The
Throes,
plays like a haunted course in American musicology, harking back
to the murder ballads of Skip James, the outlaw country of Merle
Haggard, and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter's wild frontier
balladry. The attention paid to narrative detail raises Stephens's
lyrics to poetic heights. He paints a vivid, rustic mythology
of petty crime, vagabond longing, and hungover regret, where
modern urban coexists with antiquated pastoral. These songs stand
at the door of that continuum where the timeless words of Dylan
and Guthrie reside. - SF Bay
Guardian
__________________________ |
If
rock music is all about transience, how can a song born decades
ago still rev up the engines of romance? "Tangled Up in
Blue", for instance, is a tale of fading love, but the power
and significance of the song itself is timeless. Rock 'n' roll
is often an expression of youth or youth's passing, but when
music (or any art) endures, its magnetism is only amplified with
the passage of years. For that reason, and because the best songs
are usually pinned by the listener to some quintessential moment,
the classics become classic. Passion is a fleeting feeling, but
the best art will evoke that feeling with every exposure. So when youth produces
a work of such force, when the raw or supposedly naïve artist
comes up with something universal, critics and fans rejoice.
We want to latch on to a beautiful thing before its green genius
withers under the glare of success. Such is the case with Two
Gallants' debut The Throes. The San Francisco duo responsible
for this gut-wrenching musical tragedy both just turned 21, yet
somehow their musical hindsight extends far beyond recent memory
and taps into a rusty vein swollen with grief, heartache and
violent desperation.
When
songwriting this evocative is paired with playing so dynamic,
especially in an acoustic setting, Dylan comparisons are inevitable.
Given Two Gallants' guitar and drums lineup and rustic blues-based
repertoire, many might cry White Stripes as well. There are better
analogies, though: More narrative than abstract, Adam Stephenson's
lyrics are closer to Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter's romantic
Old West allegories, luckless sagas of trains and booze and double-crossing
lovers. Meanwhile, Tyson Vogel's shifting thoroughbred pulse
on drums is less Meg White then Patrick Carney of The Black Keys.
That The Black Keys' and Two Gallants' debut releases were both
released on Alive Records is no coincidence; both embrace a hardened
revivalist style that owes a lot to the dark Delta legends. But
the mug-swinging sea shanty bluster and jailbreak urgency Two
Gallants add to indie rock's newfound blues idolatry are purely
original, and make The Throes an electric, unforgettable
listen.
There's a modernizing of old styles here-- the album begins
with a frantic garage-rock rearrangement of the 1930s Reverend
Robert Wilkins track "You Losing Out". The gutsy "Nothing
to You" opens like an angry country blues rant but tosses
in some clever quips: "My kind's been around forever/ Yet
I claim to be one of the few/ And the lost cause of words walks
away with my nerves/ 'Cause I'm gay as a choir boy for you,"
and then later, "I followed you into the party/ That no
one invited me to/ But I got so drunk and retarded/ I fell down
the stairs and I fell into you."
Forgoing
conventional verse/chorus/verse structure, these songs build
a creaking work song practicality and archetypal power. "Fail
Hard to Regain" contains almost no repetition, but Stephenson's
reedy voice tears into the subconscious and lodges mercilessly
like a tick. It's the albums most raucous, ballsy composition,
Stephenson's harmonica and guitar perfectly punctuated by Vogel's
storming percussion, and yet with speaks in stanzas reminiscent
of a whiskey-soaked Dylan Thomas poem: "'Twas on a dark
March evening, southbound I did ride/ My head was out the window
when I found her at my side/ Asked where I was going to, I told
her from where I came/ For the jails in which I've done my time,
I fail hard to regain." That soulful Pogues-style urbanizing
of down-home bumpkinism, combined with an unbridled, youthful
vigor, balances the album's startlingly troubling themes. "The
Throes" tells intimately of a vicious, abusive relationship;
accompanied by cello, "Crow Jane" is a haunting version
of a traditional murder ballad covered by the likes of Skip James
and Nick Cave. Like a course in musicology these songs bring
out an incredible richness of history, telling stories based
on the half-truths and legends that bring the ghosts of long
dead musicians and musical styles into new light.
James
Joyce was in his early 20s when he finished the short story of
shiftless, dissolute youth that Two Gallants take their name
from. Dubliners, the collection in which the story appeared
in 1905, would later be hailed a literary masterpiece. Suffering
only in its somewhat understated production, The Throes
could be considered a masterpiece of new American roots music.
It's a heavy emotional investment, a struggle of the most fulfilling
kind. There's a lot to learn from these young bards, as much
as they've learned in their short lives. When brilliance arrives
so early it's always that much more profound. - Jonathan Zwickel,
July 7th, 2004 / Pitchfork
Media
(rating : 8.5)
__________________________
|
How a pair of 21 year olds can construct
a record so bluesy, so bare, so downright brutal and so full
of tortured experiences is beyond me. But SF natives, Adam Stephens
and Tyson Vogel, evoke such a world...an old western world filled
with crumbling lives, thwarted pursuits and unending despair.
Released last spring, the duo's debut is literate and direct
without burdening with pretension. "Crow Jane" is a
searing confession of living through past shame: 'Cause it makes
no difference which way I smile. / I ain't good lookin' from
a quarter mile. / Once had a woman call me angel child. / My
reputation keeps me on trial.' With only guitars, drums and a
harmonica (as well as Stephens' unique, twangy voice) The Throes
is raw, emotional storytelling. Little wonder knowing that the
pair took their name from the sixth story in James Joyce's Dubliners.
- B.W. Liou / The
Owlmag
__________________________ |
Eprouvante
(et parfois très comique, pour peu qu'on apprécie
l'humour gothique) plongée dans les bas-fonds de la white-trash
(violences domestiques, pendaison ou ivrognerie), la poésie
détraquée d'Adam Stephens se joue dans cette grande
tradition du storytelling qui, de l'Irlande aux Appalaches, de
Raymond Carver à James Joyce, a fourni à l'imaginaire
quelques-uns des antihéros les plus obsédants.
C'est d'ailleurs chez James Joyce, dans Gens de Dublin (chapitre
"Les Deux Galants"), que ce duo faussement ploucard
et authentiquement lettré (ses histoires forment des petits
scénarios que ne renieraient pas Tom Waits ou Jarmusch)
a emprunté son patronyme. Musicalement, guitare et harmonica
ont suivi les mêmes fascinants cours d'histoire, autant
assidus que dissipés. Car si les Two Gallants connaissent
à l'évidence par cur les ballades déglinguées
de Robert Johnson, les pulsions malades de Leadbelly ou les chants
sacrés de Leonard Cohen, ces deux blancs-becs de San Francisco
n'en font qu'à leur tête de pioche avec l'héritage,
qu'ils salissent et détournent à des fins honteusement
personnelles. Sorte de White Stripes privés d'électricité
et de couleurs, ils s'écrient : "I love my country
but I fear your mother" ("J'aime mon pays mais je crains
ta mère"). Ne serait-ce que pour ces mots, ils méritent
l'amour, déraisonné. Le revival années 80
continue donc. Et on parle ici des années 1880.
- Jean-Daniel Beauvallet / Les Inrockuptibles (France)
__________________________ |
Two Gallants mesh together Tom Petty,
Flogging Molly and Bright Eyes to make an always-rollicking and
fun style of music. In fact, the beginning track of "The
Throes, " 'Your Losin, Out' has the retro-rock feel down,
with Two Gallants making a track that sounds like Jet should
sound like, if Jet weren't one of the least-talented bands of
the last twenty-five years. The down-home sound of Two Gallants,
especially in the distinct, almost nasal delivery of Adam, makes
for an album that is realistic, as opposed to the computer-generated
monstrosities of popular music. Two Gallants really have no idea
of time on this disc, as the tracks that adorn the ending of
"The Throes" are as strong as those that have started
the disc out. The noisy nature of the track typically would indicate
to listeners a band that sometime loses control of the monsters
that a band has created, but Two Gallants have been able to so
completely dominate and control the music that is placed on "The
Throes" that everything has a purpose. The slower 'My Madonna'
begins a wind-down to a disc that is perfect at all levels but
I ask, where is there to go from here? - James McQuiston / NeuFutur
__________________________ |
San Francisco's Two Gallants are one
helluva band to see live precisely because you aren't quite sure
what you're seeing. Is it alt-country? Is it garage-blues? Is
it punk? Is it Irish folk? One thing you're sure of is that singer
Adam Stephenson and drummer Tyson Vogel are almost disturbingly
talented. The duo rhythmically duel with each other, creating
both angry and heartfelt drunken tales that make you want to
stomp your boot on the floor and raise your beer towards the
skies. Stephenson's lyrics find inspiration in both Bob Dylan
and James Joyce (the band's name was taken from Joyce's Dubliners).
This music is poetry. - Oh
My Rockness
__________________________ |
Emerging from a resurgent country-rock
scene in the San Francisco Bay Area that's too young to remember
the Olde Joe Clarks, The Buckets or Richard Buckner's The Doubters;
Two Gallants first album The Throes is an excellent working
definition of what "alt-country" can mean to a new
generation of singer songwriters: respectful of tradition but
constantly striving for something completely original. The remarkable
thing about The Throes is its ability to feel dated and
new at the same time. Each song carries a built in tension fueled
by the music's conscious pull away from the traditional elements
they are based on. I'm not talking about the use of craftily
employed electronics or looped effects butting against acoustic
instrumentation. The Throes is far more subtle than that,
Two Gallants too literate and clever. At its best The Throes
sounds like an unearthed relic of a different time that somehow
manages to fit into the here and now. "Fail Hard To Regain"
starts out with a harmonic intro that would sound completely
at home on a T-bone Burnett movie soundtrack before becoming
a pounding drumbeat and distortion laced guitar jig that echoes
the punch of cow punk bands like Rank And File and The Long Ryders.
Singer Adam Stephens has a penchant for antiquated language (he
likes "ye" and "twas" a bit much) but still
manages to make it work to his favor. His songs are very much
part of the storyteller tradition that reaches back to western
murder ballads and the outlaw style of Merle Haggard. - Peter
Funk / Stylusmagazine
__________________________ |
The Throes is nothing short of exquisite. Soulful,
blues-driven songs unfurl dark folk narratives of tragedy, loss,
and regret. Warm-toned guitar and a bright pleading harmonica
overlay elastic-tight drums and spacious cymbals. Adam's vocals
ache out over the tracks, alternating between raspy vigor and
quiet tenderness. Tyson sings here and there, compounding the
intensity at key moments. They litter their songs with tempo
changes - an oom-pah waltz slides into a scrambling chorus and
back, followed by a song that builds with haunting steadiness
to a lament-ridden denouement. Taken together, the effect is
both unsettling and entirely satisfying. On stage, the Two Gallants
surpass any expectations. Adam performs with an fervor that could
blister the paint off the walls, spitting out lyrics like bitter-tasting
fruit. His furious blues-inspired guitar picking and Adam's warm
rolling drums fill the room with a despondent beauty and passionate
rawness that eludes recording. Their live set easily wins over
unsuspecting listeners who, ears scalded and faces glowing, stay
for just one more song. - Imaginary Jessica / Three
Imaginary Girls
__________________________ |
SF-based duo Two
Gallants is young, but its songs seem to spring from old souls.
Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel clearly look to timeless songwriters
like Bob Dylan for inspiration, but they infuse the tracks on
The Throes with very slight Irish influences and a healthy
dose of punk energy. - The Onion
__________________________ |
ROOTS
& AMERICANA
Listening to pioneering jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton in the
tour van. Thanking John Fahey, the iconoclastic, eccentric guitarist
who married traditional finger-picking styles to a host of unlikely
genres, in your CD liner notes. These are activities one would
associate with a 46-year-old roots-music artist. But a pair of
23-year-old bucks? Yup. Yet it makes sense if you do the math,
says singer-guitarist Adam Stephens, one half of San Francisco
duo Two Gallants, as he and drummer Tyson Vogel sail along the
highway with Jelly Roll banging away in the background. "We
see each other pretty much every day," Stephens says of
Vogel, his friend since kindergarten. "We're becoming the
same person." And 23 plus 23 does equal 46. Actually, these
clues don't seem so odd once you've sampled the Gallants' 2004
debut, The Throes (Alive Records). Critics have likened the duo
to folk-rock giants such as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, but
upon closer inspection, the former comparison seems to stem primarily
from Stephens' facility on harmonica, and the latter to a knack
for penning cheery couplets like, "It ain't no difference
which way I smile/I ain't good lookin' from a quarter mile."
To these ears, Stephens' voice recalls John Darnielle of the
Mountain Goats at his most unhinged, while the ferocity with
which Two Gallants render their compositions conjures the devil-at-my-heels
clamor of blues-punk greats the Gun Club circa 1981's Fire of
Love.
Enough
with the triangulation; let's get down to specifics. One aspect
of the Gallants' artistry that distinguishes The Throes is a
willingness to write from viewpoints other than the masculine
first person. The harrowing epic "The Train That Stole My
Man" could have sprung from the seasoned pen of Dolly Parton
or Loretta Lynn, while the title track finds an omniscient narrator
detailing a gruesome scene of domestic violence in close quarters
("He's got the kind of love that never shows"). "A
lot of modern songwriting falls into a kind of repetitive voice,"
Stephens laments. He credits growing up in the liberal environs
of S.F. as one key influence of opening up the Gallants to telling
stories from other perspectives. "And also, just reading
a lot of modernist authors," he adds. "That's a big
technique a lot of them used... [a man] writing as a woman, describing
her family life, or writing as a Southern black man, even if
you're a wealthy white man from up North. So it's kind of a combination
of those." The band--who perform Tuesday, December 21, at
the Crocodile--also display a gift for stretching their compelling
songs out over seven and eight minutes, without descending to
the mind-numbing repetitiveness of, say, "American Pie."
Is there a trick to sustaining the listener's interest for that
long? Nope. "It's more our inability to write a short song,"
admits Stephens. Themes of loss and heartbreak also recur throughout
their work, but we'll skip the analysis of Two Gallants' abandonment
issues. Besides, they always have each other. - Kurt B. Reighley
/ The
Stranger
__________________________
|
Although Two Gallants
are barely old enough to get in the door at the clubs they play,
their music reflects deep Americana and blues roots as well as
cited influences ranging from backcountry musicians Skip James
and Clarence Ashley to local punk rockers Operation Ivy. The
childhood friends, who cribbed their band name from a James Joyce
story, play songs with dark, complex lyrics that pack an emotional
impact surpassing many of their indie rock elders. - San
Francisco Flavor Pill
__________________________ |
The
debut album from San Franciscan duo Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel
offers an appealing collection of good ole' folk and country
candy-coated with just enough pop to become addicting. Vocals
reminiscent of Buddy Holly meet a grungy honky-tonk rock sensibility
on tracks like "You Losin' Out" and "Two Day Short
Tomorrow," while slower, more anthemic numbers like "Crow
Jane," "Train That Stole My Man" and the album's
title track conjure up comparisons to Jeff Buckley, Hank Williams
and Johnny Cash. Sparse yet capable musicianship lays down solid
beats (in waltz time just as often as the standard 4/4) for compelling
melodies and strong, powerful vocals. It's a notable start for
the pair heralding an irresistible new music scene in Northern
Cali. Grade: B+ - Lisa Y. Garibay / Meanstreet
__________________________ |
Two
people, some guitars, a drum kit. Also a harmonica. Man, this
set-up is the new Beatles. Fortunately, Two Gallants has the
songs to make this already hackneyed approach sound fresh. Drawing
more from folk than blues (though that's in there as well), Adam
Stephens and Tyson Vogel's tunes strip naked the boys' emotional
soul, even if the details don't jibe with real life. "Fail
Hard to Regain" and "Nothing to You" could be
about anybody in the last 200 years-or the next 200-but the feeling
behind them is timeless. - Michael Toland / High Bias
__________________________ |
Employing
a direct, simple folk style, the powerfully literate duo uses
drums, guitar, harmonica, and voice to invoke a tattered, reckless
world where men lose their nerve, children leave home, women
are struck barren, and train whistles cut through more than just
fog. With the release of the Two Gallants' debut album, 'The
Throes', comparisons to great modern folkies like Dylan will
be difficult to avoid, as much for the distinctive vocals of
Adam Stephens as for the poetic prowess of the pair, comprising
Stephens and Tyson Vogel, who, despite the fact that they are
just old enough to legally imbibe, have already constructed their
own myths and matched them with artistic force. Unforgiving songs
like "Fail Hard to Regain" and "Train That Stole
My Man" possess all the urgency and violence of an old-fashioned
miners' strike song, yet they remain intimate tales of personal
betrayal textured by old grease and apron strings; ballads like
"Crow Jane" and "The Throes," which chronicle
the anguish of love affairs, take on nearly archetypal significance.
- Silke Tudor / SF
Weekly
__________________________ |
Two
Gallants are channeling 60's rock/folk at times, with a Johnny
Cash edge of bitterness, and a definite punk attitude (the Man
in Black had this as his second trademark! As punk as it
gets) Two Gallants are good at their truly alt-country
trade, and can only get better if their youth doesn't take advantage
of them. - Bitemezine
__________________________ |
Typically
I would not consider two guys playing music to be a band, I would
call that a hobby. But in the case of Two Gallants, I'm willing
to make an exception. Rarely have I heard a band as original
and innovative as Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel's Two Gallants
manages to be. Now I don't typically write reviews, it takes
an album that I truly deem amazing to get me to rave. This album,
entitled The Throes is a captivating, start-stop rollercoaster
ride of emotion and lyrical ingenuity. Bob Dylan, Bluegrass and
more modern Punk influences shape themselves into 53 minutes
of amazing music (...). This album gets an 8.1 out of 10. The
highest grade I'd give any album out so far this year. - Pat
/ Knifeparty
__________________________ |
"One
of the most interesting albums to cross the Atlantic in recent
years."
Une fois le disque en action, surprise, c'est une espèce
de folk-punk égaré dans le delta du Mississippi
avec réminiscences Dylan à droite et à gauche.
Le duo est constitué d'Adams Steven (guitare acoustique,
chant, harmonica) et de TysonVogel(batterie et chant) et ose
même l'intervention d'une violoncelliste sur un titre.
Sur la photo du livret, il semble qu'ils aient le même
marchand de fringues que John Fogerty. La première écoute
laisse une sensation oscillant entre confusions des styles et
gros point d'interrogation. Avec les paroles sous le nez, la
deuxième est radicalement différente. Ce duo sait
raconter les choses de la vie avec la même intensité
qu'un vieux bluesman ayant vécu 90 ans de galère.
Une fois compris l'importance des textes, même la musique
devient autre. Ici, toutes les notes jouées sont là
pour renforcer l'atmosphère et non pas pour vendre la
soupe. Sans vouloir trop cirer le socle de la statue, ce disque
est certainement un des plus intéressants qui ait franchi
l'Atlantique ces dernières années. - Geant Vert
/ Rock & Folk (France)
__________________________ |
Two
Gallants have risen on the passion of their delivery and the
depth of their lyrics, inflicting emotional scars of lost love
and shattered innocence on awestruck audiences across the country.
While Tyson Vogel keeps a shifting, dynamic pulse on the kit,
guitarist Adam Stephens's voice crackles like an exposed wire
sort of a reedy, California-drawled Shane MacGowan with
less liver damage. Their visceral, stripped-down punk folk blues
is wincingly potent, totally unique, and something this city
should be very proud of. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
__________________________ |
Two Gallants made
the cover of West Coast Performer - June issue
Democratic art is a theme with Two Gallants. Just one example
is their website, which takes a lot of pressure off
the music journalist, for there you can find not sample mp3s,
but videos of the band doing what they do best - performing.
Of course the videos don't capture entirely the noise and energy
of a Two Gallants show. Nor can samples do justice to their new
album, 'The Throes', out this month on Alive Records. But both
are superior to the impotent exercise of labeling the most beautiful,
authentic, accomplished, and original release in recent memory.
- West Coast Performer / June issue
__________________________ |
|
 |
Two
Gallants' sound is distinctly their own. (...) It's hard to believe
a couple of things about this record. The first being the fact
that all this full sound is coming from a duo instead of a traditional
four piece. Obviously that's all you need when that duo is Adam
Stephens on guitar, harmonica and vocals and Tyson Vogel on the
drums and backing vocals. The second thing is the musical and
lyrical depth of these songs (...) Biting tales of lost love,
suffering, violence and anguish flowing as poetically as Dylan
with the story-telling style and occasional melodical flair reminiscent
of Cat Stevens. Sometimes when I listen to a record, my mind
starts to wander and I can't keep my attention focused on the
lyrics, however, this record kept me paying attention so that
I wouldn't miss the next great line. They just kept coming... "...cause
it ain't no difference which way I smile. I ain't good lookin
from a quarter mile." - from Crow Jane "I
awake on the floor with my country at war and I wish I could
care but my liver's too sore. If liquor's a lover you know I'm
a whore." - from My Madonna.
- Nick
Murray / Just
Add Noise
(rating : 8.7)
__________________________ |
It's
a precociously classic album. Where else can you hear a man barely
in his twenties pen such lines of suffering as "and i'll
wake up on floor with my country at war / and I wish I could
care but my liver's too sore / and if liquor's a lover, you know
i'm a whore... " ("My Madonna"). And "Crow
Jane," an extended, achingly simple and poetic ballad containing
one of the best musical turns of phrase in recent history: "it
ain't no difference which way I smile / I ain't good looking
from a quarter mile." - Adam Greenblatt / West
Coast Performer
__________________________ |
The
more you listen, the more you realize they are the perfect compliment
to the sparse drum/guitar combo that mysteriously carries the
thickness and volume of a full rock quartet. But it isn't really
rock they're playing. It's this odd jelling of backcountry-blues,
one-guitar folk, and old punk. Imagine Bob Dylan, coked up, with
distortion pedals. - Vinnie Baggadonuts / Taste
Like Chicken
__________________________ |
Local
folk-punk duo Two Gallants represents the S.F. scene's changing
of the guard, so to speak. These barely drinking- age youths'
unique style is a clever throwback to both the poetic sentiments
of the flower- power generation and classic Americana but with
a young, punk-rock sensibility and a smart, give-it-to-you-straight
quality that'll surely speak to fans of the harder stuff. - SF
Examiner
__________________________ |
|
