a twin moon - welcome to hellfire beach

A Twin Moon

Welcome To Hellfire Beach
self-released; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Hailing from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand A Twin Moon is an alternative band that formed in 2011. The band is a three- piece consisting of Brad Gamble (vocals/guitar, Sarah Bell (bass) and Steve Cottingham (drums). On their EP Welcome To Hellfire Beach they often sound much bigger than the sum of their parts. They utilize a fair amount of reverb to create a large sound that could be comparable to contemporaries like Wild Nothings but you will also notice some influence from 80’s bands like The Cure. Anyway you slice it these are good songs. 

The songwriting is up to par and every member is an essential part of the music. Gamble has a very appealing voice with a wide dynamic range. This can be heard on “Oh! The Places You Will Go” as he strains his vocal chords and then transitions into a falsetto. On the same song you can hear the zigzag bass line of Sarah Bell and creative drum work of Cottingham.

Welcome To Hellfire Beach starts with one of the best songs on the album called “When You Were Young.” This song won't blow your mind with innovation but is rather an instantly catchy and recognizable rock tune that puts the  crunchy rhythms guitars front and center. Gamble also gives one of his  best vocal performances on the album. “New Friends” is a little more pop and a little less rock than the first song. The distortion is replaced by clean guitars, which play fun, almost whimsical riffs. They do break out the distortion towards the end of the song, which wasn't really necessary.

The title track “Welcome to Hellfire Beach” has the slowest BPM on the album. The guitars create sheets of white noise as Gamble repeats the phrase “don't rush” on the chorus. Towards the end of the song there is gritty lead guitar work that fits the song just fine. Closing with “Skylights” was an interesting choice as it has very sparse vocals and is an instrumental number. Nonetheless, it is a good song with unconventional structure, a number of crescendos and plenty of reverb.

Good songs, good band, check it out, enough said.

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