On Tuesday, Oct. 21, bands Tweens and Twin Peaks played an intimate concert at Baltimore’s Metro Gallery, just down the street from Penn Station. Tweens, a pop punk band based in Cincinnati that released their first album, Tweens, this past April, opened for Twin Peaks. Their frontwoman, Bridget Battle, graduated from high school in 2011, and since then she, bassist Peyton Copes and drummer Jerri Queen have pursued a musical career. The band has gained popularity and will be touring abroad in the U.K. this November.
Battle acts slightly aloof on stage, yelling into the microphone about everyday occurrences, pleasures and, more often, annoyances. She is blunt about topics like boys, getting stoned or even just being plain bored. In the track “Bored in This City,” Battle sings, “Getting drunk, it ain’t a choice anymore / I’m wasting away in this Midwest hope.” Lyrics like these hint at the general attitude of the band, which manages not to sound melodramatic or falsely impress the audience. If someone doesn’t want to listen to their music, they can surely locate the exit. Fans of The Donnas, the Dum Dum Girls or Tacocat may enjoy listening to the Tweens.
Chicago-based band Twin Peaks, composed of Cadien James (guitar), Connor Brodner (drums), Jack Dolan (bass) and Clay Frankel (guitar), impressed the audience with their seemingly effortless musical talent. Their performance was reminiscent of nights spent jamming out to local high school bands in a garage when parents happened to be out of town. Twin Peaks’ DIY garage rock style is reflected not only in the band’s music but also in their general laissez-faire demeanor, displaying a nonchalance similarly portrayed by the Tweens.Singer Cadien James greeted the audience with a burp, proceeding to divulge that he had vomited just before coming on stage. He insisted this nausea was not because of nerves, and it would not be surprising if instead it was the result of having one too many PBRs backstage, as the other band members seemed to be equally intoxicated. Dolan accidently dropped his bass on the floor, and Frankel struggled to make it back on stage after dancing with the audience, guitar in hand.
While their apathetic attitudes lend to the general message of the band’s music and the image of its members, their complacency may not necessarily be warranted, given their relatively small fan base and recent popularity. To their credit, not many college students successfully drop out of school to pursue aspirations which may not prove to be fruitful. Furthermore, the audience fed off of their every move, no matter how crassly they behaved. Girls reached for the rolled up Levis and second-hand t-shirt-clad boys, hoping for a smile or a wink.
Sophomore Ruthie Landry expressed her feelings about the show.
“Twin Peaks rolled around the stage and played with the crowd,” Landry said. “People in the audience actually danced, which is a rarity in Baltimore it feels, but there were quite a few ladies who knew how to head bang last night. Too bad none of them wanted to start a mosh pit. I asked a fellow showgoer if she would mosh with me, but she didn’t seem to know what that meant. A true bummer if there ever was one.
“Honestly though, the true travesty was how few people danced for Tweens, who played before Twin Peaks. Tweens killed it. They sound sort of like Be Your Own Pet, but a little more polished, maybe. And they were really funny. Would definitely like to see them again in a venue that is more responsive to having a good time.”
Landry didn’t fault the venue, though.
“That being said, the Metro Gallery always gets great acts,” she said. “So it really isn’t their fault that audience members would rather contemplate their Blue Moons while nodding gently than boogie a little.”
Twin Peaks is that local band that has the opportunity to make it big. Their most recent album, Wild Onion, was released this past summer, and before its release, the band gave their take on it in an interview with NME.
“We’re throwin’ down on the rock, there’s a lot more variety and dynamics goin’ on,” the band said. “It’s all over the place — it’ll have some balls-to-the-wall Stones sh*t, some Beatles-esque arrangements and production, some Beach Boys vibes, some Jay-Rea bangers... It’s gonna be rad.”
The band will be performing at festivals CMJ in New York City this Friday and SXSW in Austin in March. Those who enjoy listening to Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective or Wolf Parade may enjoy listening to Twin Peaks.
Students hoping to make it off campus more often should try make it to one of the Metro Gallery’s upcoming shows. This Thursday, Ghost Hotel will be performing, and on Friday, Dope Body will be hosting their album release party.
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