The Watson Twins' Talking to You, Talking to Me

Track List:
1. Modern Man
2. Harpeth River
3. Forever Me
4. Midnight
5. Savin’ You
6. Brave One
7. Devil in You
8. Snow Canyons
9. Tell Me Why
10. Calling Out
11. Give Me a Chance
12. U-N-Me

Rating: 69

Whenever The Watson Twins come up in the course of discussion or music browsing, I always find myself thinking “aren’t they that group from the sixties?” Something about twin sisters singing country songs just feels very… Johnny Cash. Something from back when music was a sort of novelty treat you paid a nickel to see at the local theater. Then I remember seeing their name in support of Jenny Lewis. Now, Jenny Lewis has essentially been dead to me since Rilo Kiley left Saddle Creek and killed whatever love I had left with More Adventurous and Under the Blacklight. Well it might also have had something to do with those Monsters of Folk (if only it was always Ben Gibbard instead of Jim James) stopping by to lend some support. Or then again it might have been because it was the most interesting option to review, but whatever the reason, I gave Southern Manners a listen as well as Fire Songs and Rabbit Fur Coat (with Jenny Lewis). And the whole time I couldn’t help but think “aren’t they that group from the sixties?”

Rabbit Fur Coat was really close to being a great album, if only the material was better. The production and the backing presence of The Watson Twins were gorgeous, and Jenny really knows how to work a stage (even if it is just a soundstage). The album was certainly not without its charms, it just lacked the acerbic lyricism that made the first two Rilo Kiley records so successful. Southern Manners and Fire Songs had similar issues. The beauty of the sisterly harmonies just felt sort of vacuous without much of any lyrical or musical intrigue. The lifeless cover of “Just Like Heaven” pretty well summarizes the groups’ need for a little more dimension.

Maybe it’s the result of playing and touring together for a few years, or maybe it’s a case of aptly responding to just criticism; but right out of the gates on Talking to You, Talking to Me with “Modern Man” it’s clear that the band has stepped up. On Fire Songs the backing band seemed to melt into the crooning harmonies and vice versa, which was not entirely unpleasant, just a little tiring when it’s the featured songwriting technique. This new burst of energy in the band seems to have also imbued the Twins with a little sass and gotten them in touch with their inner diva. I can’t wait until Jack White covers “Harpeth River,” and I mean that as a Loretta Lynn or Dolly Parton comparison more than The White Stripes. This soulfulness is also the result of the Twins using their combined harmony as more of a tool as in the verses of “Harpeth River” that flow emphatically between solo and double duty adding just the right amount of punch. Also pitching in with that punch are the awakened organ on “Harpeth River” and especially on “The Devil in You” and “Midnight” where it presents a brilliant counterpoint to the vocal melody. The way “Midnight’s” surprisingly show-stopping organ solo feeds so naturally into the equally impressive “Savin’ You” speaks to more than just a heightened sense of purpose vocally and instrumentally.

There’s a much less ambiguous sense of construction to this album both holistically and inherent to each track. Talking to You, Talking To Me is an improvement in every aspect of the music, but still I hesitate to call this The Watson Twins’ breakout album. They still pretty quickly revert into the overly cutesy twee drenched “Tell Me Why” and the painfully underdeveloped “Snow Canyons” and “Calling Out.” I’m much more comfortable calling this their break-in album, gaining them access to the same stratosphere as your KT Tunstalls and Joss Stones. It’s a solid album, to be sure, but I’d really like to see them achieve a more distinguishable sound on par with the first half of this album. The next Watson Twins record should be very telling.