Think of minimalist anarchy in matters of music and you would inevitably draw the conclusion that all such things have been slaughtered by the mediocrity of the, inevitably male, singer songwriter and his, inevitably limp, acoustic guitar. Think again, for girl power has saved the day in the stereoscopic form of sisters Joan and Nicky D’Arc better known under their performing alias of The Twistettes.
Their album “Jilt The Jive” is more anguish than angst with more than enough attitude to, metaphorically at least, kick out the jams. The voice plus bass and drums approach doesn’t allow for much in the way of stylistic variation but, then again, The Twistettes aren’t the kind of band to prowl about in smooth jazz territory. Compensating for that certain lack of finesse, however, is an intoxicating directness that verges on the visceral with “I Think Not” and especially “Suck It! Fake It!” easily making the cut as post-feminist anthems.
Needless to say this is a turn it up to eleven kind of album and that, perhaps psychotically, got me to thinking about the construction of modern houses. They are all made mostly of Gyproc and, as those of you with anger management issues already know, you can kick your way through a lot of plasterboard before you actually get stopped by the multinational corporate brick wall. That’s what The Twistettes make you want to do.