RAGING TWILIGHT

 Support your local sheriff, or at least your local bands so it’s hats off to Raging Twilight who are a five piece band of veteran musicians grouped around the song writing talents of Jack Law. Law, a seventies folk rock musician, returned to his music after a successful career in health and social care with a solo album before getting involved with Raging Twilight. It’s no secret that these guys (JC Danti, Dougie Harrison, Colin Robertson and Duncan Sloan) along with Law are no spring chickens (in fact two of them play in a band called Nae Spring Chickens) and surely the band name is a nod to Dylan Thomas’ entreaty to grow old disgracefully. Whatever, the band have had enough time to hone their chops and they display them well across the album. Law was inspired to write most of these songs on a trip to the States, in particular, Utah, New Mexico and Texas and his words convey a fine sense of the south west; farmers facing foreclosure, folk riding the rails and rivers, and characters named Hog Tie Charlie and Black Jack Ketchum. As befits his lyrics the band lay down for the most part a ramshackle conglomeration of bluesy swagger and folky abandon with a little bit of Gospel soul thrown in for good measure. At times they recall the looser elements of Lindisfarne (as on Dust Bowl Rust Belt Blues and Nothing’s There) and there are some moments that struggle with You Can Fall But you Can’t Stay Down failing to make its mind up as to whether it’s a full-bellied guitar boogie or a mandolin driven sing-along. Law’s folk influences are to the fore on The Slip, a powerful solo number that again recalls Alan Hull of Lindisfarne while Hope Sails The River could hail from The Tyne or The Clyde despite its mentions of New Mexico and its swirling Band like swing. The band are at their best when they settle into their blusier side. The opening Don’t Want A Lover kicks off with some nasty slide guitar before the organ kicks in, the song a forlorn southern blues lament with a whiff of The Allmans about it. Old Glass Jar is a jaunty mandolin and harmonica driven hop that would go down a storm in an old fashioned barn dance while Iron Way finds Law deep into Western mythology as the band come across as if they were playing in an old saloon, the harmonica weeping and the piano as barroom as they come. Dead Horse Point, a lament for hard scrabbled farmers, is the closest the band get to classic LA country as laid down by Jackson Browne et al with its very fine piano playing and restrained guitar lines and although Law’s voice struggles with the high notes it’s a lovely song. They close the album with a more soulful feel. Hard Times Bad Times hums and hymns with the instruments almost toy like before organ and guitar sweep in while You Can’t Get To Heaven opens with a Gospel chorus before Law sweeps in with his take on the philosophy of life while the band play their best yet as they offer up their own take on The Band’s sweet soulful sound. It’s not an album that will set the heather on fire but it’s a grand listen and given the band’s influences it will surely resonate with those of us who have been keeping the flame alive since those halcyon teenage years, just about the same time Jack Law was striding the boards. Paul Kerr 

Blabber and Smoke: reviewer  |  

 The 1970’s in the US was a real melting pot of influences that produced some incredible music and defined the sound for the decade.Take your Neil Young, Eagles, Stephen Stills, Willie Nelson and the like and the blend of country, blues, gospel, folk and rock that melded into the sound of Americana that is still loved to this day. Transplant that sound into the thriving live music scene in Glasgow and you have the possibility of some seriously impressive music. The competitiveness that this creates gives a spin-off where only the very best rise up through the ranks in true ‘spirit of survival’ fashion. Raging Twilight have demanded attention due to finely honing their sound and the playing pedigree of the musicians involved. This has given them the due respect and respect that has been properly won. Their self-titled album is full of impressive tracks that take their cues from that pivotal 70’s sound mainly due to the extensive travels through Canada and the southwest USA of founder member Jack Law, who formed the band with Dougie Harrison. The influences come flooding in from the first notes, Don’t Want A Lover channeling Neil Young, the bluegrass simplicity of Old Glass Jar  and Hope Sails The River with it’s Celtic hues and hints of The Pogues. The whole album is a wonderful musical journey through music that has influenced a generation of listeners and is an enthralling ride. I’ve recently got into the solo work of Stephen Stills and can hear subtle hints of that amazing musician throughout, intentional or not. Dust Bowl Rust Belt Blues, Chemical Jayne, The Still with their elegant guitar and haunting vocals, it’s a nostalgic look into the past that leaves you in a wistful frame of mind. Then there’s Nothing’s There, a superb tune full of English eccentricity that reminds me of The Travelling Wilburys, a real grin inducing song! If you’re a fan of superbly constructed songs that take their influence from those greats of the past but are given an up-to-date flavour then you have opened the right door. Come on in and enjoy the ride! Released 16th April 2016. 

Progradar: reviewer  |  

 Raging Twilight release their first album, Raging Twilight, on April 16th. It only takes you about 30 seconds of listening to the first track with an electric lead grabbing the attention and the steady drive of the whole band on the song ‘Don’t Want A Lover’ to realize this is not a ‘very first album’ and a bit of research shows why. The band was originally formed two years ago by Jack Law and Dougie Harrison. Law released a solo album in 2012 and had been a member of seventies folk/rock band Greenmantle which played alongside the likes of Billy Connolly and Wishbone Ash and has written the songs for Raging Twilight. The music has a strong blues-folk flavour to it. The second track ‘Old Glass Jar’ stomps its way through with JC Danti’s harmonica driving it along. ‘Hope Sails The River’ is a cheerful singalong track, ‘Iron Way’ is, unusually, a slow railroad song with murder, harmonica and Western-saloon-bar keyboards adding to its edge as it tells the story of Black Jack Ketchum and the murder of Albert Jennings Fountain. American imagery continues on the piano led ‘Dead Horse Point’ and the blues ‘Dust Bowl Rust Belt Blues’. I think my favourite track is ‘The Slip’, musically just an acoustic guitar behind a lyric about not wanting to be “the slip between cup and lip”. Law has returned to music after a career in public health, notably as Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, and you feel the lost lives described in this song are based on things real. The song ends “I know where this all is going and it’s not my kind of trip/I can see where this is going/Don’t wanna be the slip between cup and lip”. The style changes a little for ‘Hard Times Bad Times’ with keyboard and backing vocals giving it a tinge of gospel. Appropriately enough it leads into ‘You Can’t Get To Heaven’, a full band song with a chorus to keep the audience singing at the end of a set. The website doesn’t show any gigs booked yet to tie in with the forthcoming release of the album and I’ve not picked up signs of Raging Twilight playing much outside Scotland, but if your local folk club likes a five-piece band with a blues-folk feel to it, check them out on the video below which links to a demo version of ‘Don’t Want A Lover’. Mike Wistow 

Folking.com: reviewer  |  

 Maverick Magazine **** The Scottish band that is Raging Twilight have only been going for a couple of years now, but going by this notably impressive debut album yo'd have thought they were a behemoth of country music flexing eir muscles with another polished release. Their self titled debut album packs plenty of emotive feeling and punch, while the compositions themselves have been expertly done. Their members themselves have been involved in music for a number of years, and have clearly utilised their experience for the better as this is a very good album. The polished version of 'Don't Want A Lover' is sublime, while 'Hope Sails The River ' is a really nice track. While some of the songs are long in length, they keep you intrigued the whole way through, and you'll finish this album wishing you had a bit more to digest. Rob Ramsay 

Maverick Magazine: reviewer  |