Twin Forks – Twin Forks

If the name Twin Forks isn’t familiar to you (it wasn’t to me), try Dashboard Confessional, ring a bell? Me too….and because I recognized that second name I almost didn’t listen, and that would’ve been a huge mistake.

Chris Carrabba, or Dashboard Confessional, wasn’t exactly my cup of tea in the late 90’s early 2000’s. Looking back now (a lot older with a more sophisticated musical palette) I’m not really sure why his music didn’t speak to me. Carrabba cites his influences as people like The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Beach Boys among others. Sounds like a pretty damn good lineup to me but I guess I didn’t give it a chance back then. I’m glad I found it now though.

Twin Forks (made up of Carrabba on vocals and guitar, Suzie Zeldin/vocals and mandolin, Ben Hamola/drums and Jonathon Clark/bass) was formed in Boca Raton, Florida in 2011 after Carrabba decided he was drawn to Folk, Roots, Americana style music. 

There’s been quite a big movement (and market) for this style of music over the past few years. The popularity of bands like Mumford and Sons and The Avett Brothers have spearheaded this genre while punk legends like Greg Graffin of Bad Religion have released Americana, folk rock with his album, Cold As The Clay in 2006. This bodes well for Twin Forks and their self titled debut full length on Dine Alone Records slated for a February 25th, 2014 release.

The record starts off really strong (Carrabba’s gravely vocals are perfectly balanced with the sweet, whisper-like voice of Suzie Zeldin throughout this collection) with Can’t Be Broken, an up tempo sing a long that sets the tone for the rest of the album. Like the leadoff track, the next two, Cross My Mind and Back To You are fast, well constructed songs with depth and character that instantly makes you feel good that you bought this record. If you’re looking for a comparison, think Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem singing catchy, acoustic love songs with a punk edge and pure folk sensibility at a campfire on your favorite beach. The highlight for me is Scraping Up The Pieces which could be a hybrid of The Dropkick Murphy’s being led by Bruce Springsteen on a drunken romp through the midwest.

It’s not easy to make this style of music feel or sound very different when listening to 12 songs in a row, but Twin Forks gets that done, for the most part. There are a few slower tracks which fail to distinguish themselves (Plans and Done is Done) but that does not detract from what is a very strong debut. Twin Forks is a must get for 2014!