”But if your all about the destination.
Then take a fucking flight
Where going nowhere slowly but seeing all the signs
And we're definitely going to hell
But we'll have all the best stories to tell.”
Frank Turner – The Ballad of Me & My Friends
Manchester’s Twisted Wheel have released their third album, ‘Satisfying the Ritual’. It was recorded at Vibe Studios and produced by Dean Glover, it officially marks a comeback from a dark period in the band’s lives.
During their first run, rock ‘n’ roll was still a place for altruism. However, in the last decade, no matter how divisive and sub-human politics became, guitar music’s consciousness kept on evolving. Now, Twisted Wheel has re-emerged and dragged punk’s enlightenment into the world of rock ‘n’ roll.
‘Satisfying the Ritual’ is littered with fables from the trenches they have roamed. Burning brightest are ‘I Am Immune’’ and ‘Black and Blue’. The former, is the correct answer to the question, how to deal with online trolls? It combines punk’s ferocity and rock’s cinematic quest for glory. Meanwhile, ‘Black and Blue’, tackles the mental health issues many face today. Lyrically, the anxiety levels are through the roof (“I don’t believe in anyone and I barely trust myself”) but, musically, it’s a celebration of the best moments of Soundtrack Of Our Lives.
On ‘D.N.A’, they elevate the album to another realm. It’s been well documented that frontman, Jonny Guitar, has had his demons in the bands intervening years. Besieged by drink, drugs, and homelessness, he also suffered the tragic loss of his mother to alcoholism. It is then, a truly remarkable achievement of art and, the human spirit that, ‘D.N.A’ exists. This ode to his mother, who he lost to alcoholism. There are flourishes of Jimmy Page and, the blues of ‘Exile On A Main Street’ have been given a vast landscape to roam in. Whilst the guitars strive for new horizons, lyrically, it’s a sweet eulogy, until Guitar unleashes the most emotive howl rock ‘n’ roll music has heard in some time.
Despite the quality of the first two albums, they were pastiches of T-Rex, The Who, and Oasis. Here, they are reaching and achieving things far beyond this. ‘Ghost Man’ splices Joe Strummer’s love of rockabilly and Frank Black’s warped sense of danger. The title track introduces spoken word into their repertoire on this Fat White Family psychedelic epic. Pigeon hole them at your peril.
Twisted Wheel’s journey has been a roller coaster for the past 12 years. On this showing, it shows no signs of slowing down but, mercifully, it is on a deserved incline towards glory.