Twine: New Old Horse

Australia has always been the bedrock of the ‘gig economy’. Costing a bomb for promotors to get international acts to the country, it’s been a longstanding issue even before the cost of living crisis.

Recently, the needle has shifted, though. Due to Brexit (and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), many international acts are rightly swerving ol’ Blighty in favour of some sun, beer and good times down under, and the ripple effects can be seen and heard.

It’s been a boon for local acts, one which being Adelaide’s Twine. This is a band that immediately does good things to the mind, not least because of the circumstances of which they came to my attention, wonderfully falling outside of the realm of emails and banal press releases.

With several singles under their belt and tours all around the country including a visit across the pond to New Zealand, Twine have organically grown a healthy listenership. And so they should, for their debut album, New Old Horse, is the breath of fresh-air the country needs where guitar-orientated music is concerned.

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Comprised of Thomas Katsaras (vocals/guitar), Matt Schultz (guitar), Thea Martin (violin), Alicia Salvanos (bass) and Jackson Pagett (drums) on New Old Horse, Twine combine solid record collections for something fresh and pulsating. The coming years will see many bands smashing together the same ideas as Twine, but make no mistake, they were the first. Concocting ’90s post-hardcore energy with the hysteria that folk music can sometimes command, the result is the same vibrant spirit Fugazi captured all those years ago.

From the first notes of Future Exhales it’s evident; Twine, orchestrating their own brand of folk-inspired post-hardcore with a raucous burst of noise likened to the twisted metal of a car crash.

It’s not all fire and brimstone, though. Twine temper the ferocity with heartfelt passages, and Sleeping Dogs is the first. “Sleeping dogs don’t dream of living inside”, laments Katsaras, with a song that explores the restlessness of life, pivoting those straight paths we are ‘meant’ to take. Throughout New Old Horse, these are themes that are constantly bubbling beneath the surface.

And speaking of, Spine and Fruit to Ripe do just that – lightning-through-the-veins type moments that bands like Grain mastered in their heyday, and welded together with the young feral energy of the Dirty Three, it’s here where Twine produce their best results. (The album title and the swirling eponymous track, a gentle nod in the direction of Horse Stories.)

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Formerly known as Cleaner, New Cleaner is slowed down to a crawl with the anthemic swagger of its original guise now overshadowed by a new layer of emotional force. Katsaras explores the stages of grief, where moving on from the anger of one’s death is one step forward, two steps back. Here the protagonist enters the next stage where helplessness and forlorn acceptance awaits, and this version captures it flawlessly.

Same Old Problems has also undergone some cosmetic surgery, and it’s no surprise it follows New Cleaner, for the two could be considered linked (“Pushing things down feels like a fresh start”). Both songs revealing new facets since their original guises. Ultimately, it what can happen with the best songs from any band, and here Twine have produced two that have flourished not only to new places, but also to new levels. It’s this new energy that bleeds into the majesty of Between States. The kind of song that could have landed on a Saddle Creek compilation.

New God is just as good, too. A song that gets better with each listen, Katsaras’ open-hearted choruses reveal an Unwound worship that scrapes across the fault lines. And on closing cut, High Tide Loose Change, that continues as echoes of Leaves Turn Inside You gush from the speakers like blood from a fresh wound. It’s the mess and noise that ties up New Old Horse. An urgent rush from a band living in the moment, knowing it could all end within the blink of an eye.

It’s this bristling urgency and frayed, youthful energy that makes New Old Horse what it is: the best guitar-based debut out of Australia this year.

New Old Horse is out Friday via kitty records. Purchase here.