The Twits (album)

Last updated

The Twits
Bar Italia - The Twits.png
Studio album by
Released3 November 2023 (2023-11-03)
RecordedFebruary–March or April 2023 [1]
StudioBar Italia's home studio (Mallorca) [1]
Length47:16
Label Matador
Producer Bar Italia
Bar Italia chronology
Tracey Denim
(2023)
The Twits
(2023)

The Twits is the fourth studio album by British alternative rock band Bar Italia, released on 3 November 2023 through Matador Records. It is their second album of 2023, following Tracey Denim . The album received positive reviews from critics. The album title comes named after the Roald Dahl's book of the same name. [2]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 75/100 [3]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash 8/10 [4]
The Line of Best Fit 9/10 [5]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Pitchfork 6.9/10 [7]
The Skinny Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]

The Twits received a score of 75 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 10 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. [3] Mojo stated that "a queasy heat seeps into the Sonic Youth hiss and clang of My Little Tony, Jelsy's Bad Seeds metallic thrum and Shoo's slow, high plains drift". [6] Reviewing the album for Clash , Sam Eeckhout found there to be a "profoundly plentiful amount of ideas bouncing around on The Twits, from the uptempo 'straight-ahead' rock songs to eerie-country to the slanted and driving post-punk rhythms powering songs like 'World's Greatest Emoter'". [4]

Skye Butchard of The Skinny wrote that "a few more spins reveal a rare and exciting dynamic between the three members" as "they trade verses, taking songs in new directions, revelling in the tension where their individual ideas intersect". She felt that "the album works in short bursts of adrenaline", which "can leave midtempo ballads like Shoo feeling aimless". [8] The Line of Best Fit 's Joshua Mills opined that the band have "thicken[ed] the sound since May's Tracey Denim", which "has paid dividends for The Twits, an album of great texture and detail" as well as "creativity and invention". [5] Samuel Hyland of Pitchfork called it "an attempt to expand on a tried-and-true formula. It's bookish, looking-out-the-window music: foot-tappy and slightly unnerving, best consumed through faulty earbuds you have to hold at precisely the right angle to operate". [7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nina Cristante, Jezmi Fehmi, and Sam Fenton.

The Twits track listing
No.TitleLength
1."My Little Tony"2:59
2."Real House Wibes (Desperate House Vibes)"3:37
3."Twist"4:29
4."Worlds Greatest Emoter"2:54
5."Calm Down with Me"3:21
6."Shoo"4:25
7."Que Surprise"3:13
8."Hi Fiver"3:54
9."Brush w Faith"3:46
10."Glory Hunter"3:38
11."Sounds Like You Had to Be There"3:13
12."Jelsy"3:48
13."Bibs"3:59
Total length:47:16

Personnel

Bar Italia

Additional contributors

Charts

Chart performance for The Twits
Chart (2023)Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [9] 15

Related Research Articles

<i>Back in Denim</i> 1992 studio album by Denim

Back in Denim is the debut album by British rock band Denim.

<i>Walls Have Ears</i> 1986 live album (bootleg) by Sonic Youth

Walls Have Ears is a Sonic Youth bootleg live recording from 1985. It was released on 2×12″ vinyl in 1986 without the consent of the band.

<i>Dogrel</i> 2019 studio album by Fontaines D.C.

Dogrel is the debut studio album by Dublin post-punk band Fontaines D.C. It was released through Partisan Records on 12 April 2019 on cassette, CD, digital download, and vinyl formats. The album was nominated for Album of The Year at the Choice Music Prize and Mercury Prize in 2019.

<i>Singing Saw</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Kevin Morby

Singing Saw is the third studio album by American indie rock musician Kevin Morby, released on April 15, 2016, on Dead Oceans.

<i>Room Inside the World</i> 2018 studio album by Ought

Room Inside the World is the third and final studio album by Canadian art punk band, Ought. The album was released on February 16, 2018, through Merge Records.

<i>Now Only</i> 9th Mount Eerie Album

Now Only is the ninth studio album by Mount Eerie, the solo project of American musician Phil Elverum. It was released on March 16, 2018, on Elverum's record label P.W. Elverum & Sun. Like the preceding Mount Eerie album A Crow Looked at Me, Now Only is a concept album in the aftermath of the death of Elverum's wife, the cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée; Elverum described it as the second part of that album. The album was entirely written and produced by Elverum, and recorded in the room in which Castrée died.

<i>Be the Cowboy</i> 2018 studio album by Mitski

Be the Cowboy is the fifth studio album by American indie rock musician Mitski, released on August 17, 2018, through Dead Oceans. Produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland, the album widens Mitski's palette with a return to the piano featured on her first two records alongside synthesizers, horns and the guitar that became her signature instrument. Upon its release, Be the Cowboy received widespread acclaim from music critics, who later ranked it among the best albums of 2018. It was preceded by the singles "Geyser", "Nobody", and "Two Slow Dancers". Be the Cowboy was Mitski's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, and also entered the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

<i>Bunny</i> (Matthew Dear album) 2018 studio album by Matthew Dear

Bunny is the sixth studio album by American DJ and producer Matthew Dear. It was released on October 12, 2018 under Ghostly International. It is Dear's first album in six years following from Beams in 2012.

<i>The Versions</i> 2022 studio album by Neneh Cherry

The Versions is the sixth studio album by Neneh Cherry, released on 10 June 2022 via EMI Records. The album consists of reworked versions of songs from Cherry's back catalogue, featuring guest appearances by artists including Robyn and Sia.

<i>I Love You Jennifer B</i> 2022 studio album by Jockstrap

I Love You Jennifer B is the debut studio album by British experimental pop band Jockstrap. It was released through Rough Trade Records in September 2022 and received critical acclaim. It debuted and peaked at number 57 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was shortlisted for the 2023 Mercury Prize.

<i>Every Loser</i> 2023 studio album by Iggy Pop

Every Loser is the nineteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop, released on January 6, 2023, by Gold Tooth and Atlantic Records. Produced by Andrew Watt, the album features a core backing band of Chad Smith as drummer and multi-instrumentalists Josh Klinghoffer and Andrew Watt.

<i>Food for Worms</i> 2023 studio album by Shame

Food for Worms is the third studio album by the British post-punk band Shame, released on 24 February 2023 through Dead Oceans. The album was produced by Flood and recorded live in the studio. It received positive reviews from critics and charted in the UK and several European countries.

<i>Fuse</i> (Everything but the Girl album) 2023 studio album by Everything but the Girl

Fuse is the eleventh studio album by British duo Everything but the Girl, released on 21 April 2023 through Buzzin' Fly and Virgin Records. It is their first studio album in almost 24 years following Temperamental (1999). The album was preceded by the single "Nothing Left to Lose" on 10 January 2023, followed by "Caution to the Wind", "Run a Red Light", and "No One Knows We're Dancing", in February, March, and April respectively.

Bar Italia, stylized bar italia, are a British indie rock band formed in London in 2019. The band consists of members Nina Cristante (vocals), Sam Fenton, and Jezmi Tarik Fehmi. Their name is derived from the Soho café Bar Italia.

<i>Time Aint Accidental</i> 2023 studio album by Jess Williamson

Time Ain't Accidental is a 2023 studio album by American indie folk singer-songwriter Jess Williamson, released by Mexican Summer. The album has received positive reviews.

<i>Tracey Denim</i> 2023 studio album by Bar Italia

Tracey Denim is the third full-length studio album by British alternative rock band Bar Italia, released by Matador Records on 19 May, 2023. It has received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Love Hallucination</i> 2023 studio album by Jessy Lanza

Love Hallucination is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist electronic musician Jessy Lanza, released by Hyperdub on July 28, 2023. The recording was inspired by Lanza's move from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles and has received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Return to Archive</i> 2023 studio album by Matmos

Return to Archive is the fourteenth studio album by electronic duo Matmos, released on November 3, 2023. It uses non-music material sourced from the Smithsonian Folkways collection in its composition; the album itself was commissioned to commemorate Folkways' 75th anniversary.

<i>Crazymad, for Me</i> 2023 studio album by CMAT

Crazymad, for Me is the second studio album by the Irish pop musician CMAT, released on 13 October 2023 through CMATBaby and AWAL. The album includes a guest appearance from the American alternative rock singer John Grant and was preceded by the lead single "Whatever's Inconvenient". It received acclaim from critics.

<i>I Love You Cutie, I Envy You</i> 2023 remix album by Jockstrap

I<3UQTINVU is the first remix album by British duo Jockstrap, released on 3 November 2023 through Rough Trade Records. It is built around samples of the duo's debut album I Love You Jennifer B (2022) and includes collaborations with Babymorocco, Coby Sey, Ersatz, Ian Starr and Kirin J Callinan. The album received positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Twits - bar italia". BandCamp. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023. 'The Twits' was recorded by the trio over eight weeks from February 2023 in a makeshift home studio in Mallorca...
  2. "Bar Italia just want to have fun". Archived from the original on 24 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 "The Twits by Bar Italia Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic . Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  4. 1 2 Eeckhout, Sam (31 October 2023). "Bar Italia – The Twits | Reviews". Clash . Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 Mills, Joshua (31 October 2023). "Bar Italia eclipse post-punk's chasing pack with the mangled glee of The Twits". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Bar Italia – The Twits". Mojo . December 2023. p. 94.
  7. 1 2 Hyland, Samuel (7 November 2023). "Bar Italia: The Twits Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  8. 1 2 Butchard, Skye (31 October 2023). "Bar Italia – The Twits album review". The Skinny . Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  9. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 November 2023.