Ok, some more thoughts just to tease you as I’ve not really stopped listening for two weeks now:
It’s a fairly short album at a brief 35 minutes but if you add that with U.F.O.F (which I have tried) then you get about an hour 15’s worth of music. Still, it manages to do A LOT in that fairly svelt about of time.
It’s a much more straightforward album musically (though not necessarily lyrically) than U.F.O.F, as I mentioned after seeing it at Bush Hall, it’s probably closest to Masterpiece but really it is yet another totally distinct record which completely blows my mind that they’ve done it again.
The production is really good and completely at odd with U.F.O.F despite being the same producer and band. The large difference being Two Hands was recorded pretty much entirely live with only one or two overdubs, compared to U.F.O.F’s studio trickery, and it has a much warmer, grittier sound, you can feel the Texas sweat dripping off them.
Finally, I’ve seen people here say that Side A of U.F.O.F is better (which I don’t agree with because it’s all great BUT) Side B of this is one of the most thrilling passages of music they’ve done yet. I already mentioned ‘Shoulders’ (which by the way is now one of my fav BT songs) - ‘Not’ - ‘Wolf’ but honestly it comtinues to the rest of the album. ‘Replaced’ which comes next is so soulful it only takes its opening chord to make me shiver, while finale ‘Cut Your Hair’, which Lenker also played on the solo tour, is absolutely devastating, reminds me of ‘The Tourist’ by Radiohead slightly. This isn’t a slight on Side A which still has a lot of great stuff (bar one song that is ever so slightly weak for me - just to show I am capable of criticising them) so it yet again comes together as a whole cohesive album, it’s just the second half really elevates in an incredible way.
Amazing band, we are so lucky to have them.
