Indie rockers Evil Twin, will release their upcoming full length LP, Upside Down We’re Flying, on March 13. Fronted by songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Peter McGee, the ten-song album embraces fuzzed out guitars drenched in effects, melodic hooks, and poppy vocals that evoke classic indie rockers Dinosaur Jr, REM, Pavement, contemporary indie songwriters like Courtney Barnett and Sufjan Stevens and the big, organic sounds that only arrive when the members of Evil Twin are in a room playing together, leaning into a musical conversation.
The album was produced by Brayden Baird and in addition to McGee features guitarist and singer, Claire Stevens, and bassist/vocalist Riina Dougherty. Prior to their departure from the band, Thomas Kikuchi provided drums and percussion.
“We are a callback to the days of three to four person bands – where you kinda marveled at the fact that just a very small group of people on stage are able to make music this big. Nowadays you have whole orchestras on stage and multiple guitar players doing backup, backing tracks and drum machines. And of course we use all that on record too, but at the core every song on this record is the four of us, in a room, playing with each other, reacting to each other. It’s organic. That’s how we recorded it, all live tracked together, then the overdubs sit atop it as a hyper real sheen. Same with the harmonies – we could have done layers of me in overdubs or brought in professional singers, but I feel something is lost when you do that. We wanted the unique flavor that each band member’s voice has. The history of us as a band, and each member’s own history, is in all those voices. We are very out of time aesthetically, and we want to feel like an indie band from the late 80s and early 90s that fits seamlessly into the canon.”
– McGee
Upside Down We’re Flying kicks off with the driving, dreamy and atmospheric, “Frost on the Lillies.” The song have many layers of guitar effects that were created alongside a driving percussion and bass groove. There were numerous overdubs and extensive processing with effect pedals as well as additional post effects. McGee says that they had used a device called the dream reaper that creates a controllable infinite feedback loop used to create some of those shrieking rises in the drone sections, and overblown fuzz/synth bass comes in below.
Up next is the poppy, second single released, “California (She’s So Royal)” – a bouncy tune with peppy backup vocals, energetic alt rock drums and a blissful wall of fuzzy guitar. Instantly infectious, deploying hook after hook in its first two minutes, before entering into an extended instrumental break that sees spoken word monologues, bleep bloop synth effects, searing twin guitar solos, and heavy drum fills, all of which culminates in a climatic active jump for the third verse vocal. This song swings in the complete opposite direction from Evil Twin’s first single, “In Flames,” showing the range that will be found on the upcoming Upside Down We’re Flying.
Things take a darker turn with the previously released, “In Flames” – one of the album’s heaviest songs. This track is more about instrumental hooks and a fun 90s bass groove, but the lyrics hint at something darker. The songwriter says it reminds him a bit of “The One I Love” by R.E.M. and he thinks in flames refers to a sort of hellfire burning desire consuming the protagonist of this song.
“Red Thread” cranks the distorted guitars up before centering on a melodic guitar riff and an instrumental section that drummer Thomas Kikuchi contributed. McGee elaborates that the lyrics explore themes of wanting to encounter a long lost crush at Penn station in New York, where you might run into anyone theoretically, though you know it’ll likely never be your crush.
The album closes with what begins as a solo the piano ballad, “Eta Carinae”. As the song evolves, band members join the sparse piano and vocals one by one in a huge finish – one that ends both the song and the whole album. McGee say’s that the song is from the perspective of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was on the Challenger disaster talking to her parents.
Evil Twin was born from the members of several local bands at Northwestern University in Illinois, after the members migrated from basement venues to NYC stages. The band is comprised of three members, each assuming a different genre of musical expertise that include shades of jazz, blues, classical, and pop punk. Together, they’ve created an innovative sound with soulful vocals and intricate instrumentals – a synergistic whole bigger than just one person, ready to steal listeners’ attention. Evil Twin is Peter McGee (lead vocals, lead guitar), Claire Stevens (rhythm and lead guitars, vocals), and Riina Dougherty (bass guitar, backing vocals). Thomas Kikuchi provides drums, synthesizer, and additional percussion to the album ahead of their departure.
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