Black Twig are a four-piece from Helsinki, Finland. The band shares a love for melodic but noisy guitar music, updating the paisley jangle and 80s brit pop aesthetic with a dissonance reminiscent of Sonic Youth and the power pop sensibility of Teenage Fanclub.
First new music from Black Twig in nearly five years – ‘Devils Please Be Gone’ is the first taste of what’s to come from the forthcoming new Black Twig long player Was Not Looking for Magic – which is released February 26th 2021 via Soliti.
Press reaction to Black Twig’s Was Not Looking for Magic
“…allowing the song’s to sort of meld together into a great collection of well written guitar pop tunes. I mentioned Felt, and I do think there are some similarities, particularly in the way that both bands manage to craft delicate guitar work and pop accessibility into cohesive listens. I promise you, if that’s anywhere up your alley, come back for those repeat listens.” Track by track review via Austin Town Hall
“Listen to the warm, matured, and jangly sound of Finland’s Black Twig” an Interview via Minnis2Society
“Was Not Looking For Magic, released on Friday, is certainly one of the best Finnish indie albums in a few years.” Päivän Biisit
“Apparently they weren’t looking for magic, but they found it. RIYL Felt, Tracy Bryant, Razorcuts.” Add To Wantlist
“Today, Black Twig can be considered an old-fashioned band. It does not utilize modern technology and synthetic sounds in its music, but relies on the power of electric guitars in its sound. And the guitars play wonderfully, forming carefully designed arpeggio harmonies.” Kulttuuritoimitus
“…the reality is that the full album surpasses our expectations. New influences supplement the old, with current comparisons tending towards Teenage Fanclub and Sonic Youth. Cue up Was Not Looking For Magic and you are treated to the shoegaze of “New Moon”, the jangle pop of “Outdoor Blues” and instrumental “Puuhastelu”, the moodier guitar pop of “Typical Winters Day” and “Walking Up A Hill”, and the robust album closer “You Never Were Mine”. And album opener “I Was Not Looking For Magic” is a perfect bookend companion for showcase track “Black Cat”. WYMA
“Individual songs have never been the core of a Black Twig album, they have been a part of a larger entity, so that even the smallest variations sound relevant …Was Not Looking for Magic has the distinctive Black Twig sound with noisy guitars and shoegaze. Compared to the previous albums this one is a bit more striking” Soundi 4/5
“seems destined to be one of my favourite records of the year” it starts with a birthstone
“The band sounds both traditional and timeless. They swim effortlessly along in the stream of the recent international neo-psychedelic rock movement….Black Twig has melded their influences into a natural whole.” Suomen Kuvalehti
Some other Black Twig press quotes
“If you were a fan of Paper Trees, Black Twig continues to walk the tightrope between harmony and visceral distortion, satiating feral and cerebral urges without the overindulgence on Heliogram. ” Autumn Andel, Prefixmag
“second outing Heliogram is cut from the same cloth, more Teenage Fanclub-ish, less direct melodically and sports a fantastic, enveloping, in-the-room production” Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk
Desibeli.net reviews Heliogram 5/5 (in Finnish)
Sue (interview in Finnish)
The Nordic Playlist “Not necessarily a brand new band, but certainly one with grand ambitions of world domination in 2014”
re Lake Song “it’s a 90’s indie scorcher that could have had a place on a Sonic Youth record.” Chromewaves Radio (USA)
“Black Twig’s Paper Trees is an elegant indie rock taking Eighties psych-sters The Rain Parade and making them over Teenage Fanclub style. “Death Scene” and “Antichrist” are amongst their concerns. Paper Trees is lovely, misty album.” Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk (UK)
“Paper Trees seemingly goes all over the place, from screeching post-rock to quieter moments of blissful pop, and yet it’s tied together so well that you’ll hardly notice the change in mood from one point to another. ” Austin town Hall (USA)
“Blaze On A Plain is a great album, where the band is paving the way towards a more brilliant future” 4/5 Desibeli.net
” bursts with jangly guitar licks and slacker rhythms; it feels like the 90s got freshened up. “ The Dadada
“Blaze on a Plain is the perfect statement being made by Finland’s Black Twig. They’re songwriting is at the top of their game, with every member contributing greatly to the success of each song…you’ll find some real gems throughout, especially when you come across album closer, “Sunday TV.” Austin Town Hall
“psychedelic songs like the archly cool and deeply relaxed »Gods«, Black Twig lift up to the manic guitar sounds to clear heights. The skies over Roihupelto must be very blue! The four of them, on “BLAZE ON A PLAIN” by the way, are, of course, not forgotten as the most successful collaborative work ever.” Nordische Music
“ Dreamy, shoegazy guitarpop from Finland. Love the vocals and the melodies are really good. ” Eardrums Music
“All of a sudden you’re lost inside a blissful cocoon of disorienting, fuzzy and rattling guitars, feeling like you’re in some Vincent Gallo movie shot with a 16 mm camera while you’re moving in slow-motion with the world spinning around you” In Between Songs
“shares an affinity with the best music made with guitars, drums and bass.” Nordic By Nature
“Gloriously agitated & fuzzy pop bolide spiced with boosts of sparkling guitar firework.” Turn Up The Volume
“This is a band on a journey, and the path has led them to a good place. If you love guitars and melody, this album is one you shouldn’t miss.” When You Motor Away
“yksinkertaisessa melodiankuljetuksessaan mestarillinen 1998, jossa tiivistyy kaikki se hyvä, minkä vuoksi Black Twigiä on viime vuosien ajan hehkutettu. Se on myös oivallinen tutustumisbiisi niille, joiden korvia bändin musiikki ei ole aiemmin tavoittanut.” Soundi
“A description that can not deny a certain esoteric character. Musically this manifests itself in a much more airy overall sound. Black Twig sound like fallen out of time, wrap themselves in a retro look with a slight 60’s character and psychedelic influences. ” White Tapes
“The immediacy and simplicity show throughout the album, with the songs flowing at a fast pace, but always sounding very relaxed. Despite a few interludes of fuzzy guitars, Black Twig always puts melody first at all times…Blaze On A Plain, is one of my favorite indie albums ever to come out of Finland.” Glue/Rosvot
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