Sunday, February 12th, 2012
"Half A Person"
The Twilight Sad cover The Smiths
thetwilightsad.comAs I mentioned in my review of The Twilight Sad’s new record No One Can Ever Know, the band have never tried to hide their influences. But for everything that has gone into their sonic stew, the jangle-pop art-pop of The Smiths doesn’t come immediately to mind as you work through their discography… or does it. James Graham may not aspire to be as deft a wordsmith as Morrissey, but whether it’s buried in the the white noise of their debut Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters or the gleaming sheen of No One Can Ever Know, the common denominator is miserablism. And yeah, you might be able to draw a line to The Smiths for inspiration on that front.
“Half A Person” was originally the b-side to “Shoplifters of the World Unite”, but became almost as well known as The Smiths’ album cuts thanks to its inclusion on the Louder Than Bombs b-sides clearing house and also the Best… I compilation, so it’s perhaps fitting that The Twilight Sad’s simple acoustic studio rendering appeared on their own 2008 odds-and-sods comp Killed My Parents And Hit The Road, a limited edition tour-only release issued as a stopgap between their first and second albums.
The Twilight Sad bring No One Can Ever Know, released last week, to Lee’s Palace on February 29; The 405 has an interview with the band. Despite constantly finding new ways to re-release their old material, The Smiths remain broken up and god willing will remain so. But Johnny Marr is working on new solo material, so there’s that.
MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Half A Person”
Stream: The Smiths – “Half A Person”
Tags: Johnny Marr, Smiths, Twilight Sad
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2/14/12 3:44 pm
The Twilight Sad: No One Can Ever Know « On the Couch says:[…] The Twilight Sad cover The Smiths (chromewaves.net) […]