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Jun 17, 2010 Web Exclusive By Lily Moayeri

There are two distinct groups that like the U.K.-based duo Turin Brakes. First group: those who own every album, notice minute distinctions in style, have a distinct memory attached to every song, think they were robbed of the Mercury Music Prize, and make big fools of themselves around the band. Second group: absolutely love Turin Brakes’ “Painkiller (Summer Rain)” and have no idea who the artist is.

The acoustic neo-folk of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian sounds just as emotive and delicate as ever on their latest long-player, Outbursts. If anything, with the more stripped-down nature of Outbursts, further intimacy is added into the equation. Opener “Sea Change”—with its clever riffs, punctuating bongos, and intricate harmonies­—is the strongest track, with more substance and definition than the rest of the album. “Radio Silence” characterizes itself with a fleshed out arrangement that the rest of Outbursts could have benefited from. There is a touch of country than not previously heard on a Turin Brakes release, such as on the down home twangs of “Never Stops” and “Paper Heart”—a sweetly self-indulgent nursery rhyme. There is little distinction, however, between the tracks. Knights’ clear tones don’t vary much, the string plucks don’t stray far from a safe middle ground, and the melodies blend together into one unidentifiable—sometimes draggy (see the inexcusable Starsailor-esque “Will Power”)—whole.

For the aforementioned first group of fans, Outbursts, will meet all expectations—particularly since this type of low-key, overly emotional, sentimental musing is what they want from Turin Brakes. For the second group, they never knew there was a Turin Brakes to begin with and Outbursts is not going to change that. (www.turinbrakes.com)

Author rating: 5/10