Losman's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Blog

'90s nostalgia seems to be in full effect these days.  Billy Corgan just can't seem to keep himself from leaving the veil of the Smashing Pumpkins.  Pearl Jam turned in a rabble-rousing 3-hour set as headliners at the annual Bonnaroo festival, and are gearing up to do the same thing at Lollapalooza.  After 15 years, shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine are playing together again.  The throwback train is steamrolling through the collective consciousness of pop culture, and it's only going to get bigger.

Then there's Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli...remember them?

Lanegan's Screaming Trees were responsible for some of the most trancedent rock music to come out of Seattle during the grunge days.  During those same days, Dulli's sorely underrated Afghan Whigs soul-inflected post-punk resonanted with critics as well as a dedicated cult-like base of fans.  All the while, both bands were overshadowed by the biggies of their day. 

The two have been quite productive since those days and the demise of their bands.  Lanegan's work with the Queens of the Stone Age and Belle and Sebastian's Isobel Campbell, as well as his own solo efforts, have all faired well for him.  Dulli's Twilight Singers released 4 critically-acclaimed records since 2000.  In late 2003, the two came together - christened as The Gutter Twins - to start the initial writing of what would become one of the best records released in 2008 so far...Saturnalia.

Rather than re-treading the past like many of their '90s bretheren, Lanegan and Dulli have forged new ground musically with their collaboration, while reflecting a sense of familiarity to longtime fans of their work.  Lanegan's whiskey-drenched voice with Dulli's achin'-to-be wails complement each other in the best of ways this side of Plant and Krauss. 

Duality pervades much of Saturnalia (even the name of the album references an ancient Roman festival where slaves and masters switched roles).  It's the pefect record for both the dark soul of the night, as well as the uplifting spirit of the human condition.  It's stories consist of saints and sinners, love and spite, regret and redemption...everything that makes us human.  Which makes the record so compelling on every listen. 

I take my hat of to Lanegan and Dulli...uncompromising in their musical visions.  Give these two ghosts of days gone by a listen.  I promise you won't be disappointed.