_The Voltaire Twins - Romulus (13/01/2012)
_
In 2008 the Voltaire Twins started to take things a little more seriously, after winning a Triple
J unearthed Parklife competition. Since then the talented group have generated
a lot of buzz, playing major festivals, touring the country and landed major
support slots. The Perth based indie/electro band comprising of twins Jaymes
and Tegan Voltaire (Singers/Synth Players), percussionist Jack Doepel and
drummer Matt Gio, are proud to present their second EP, aptly titled ‘Romulus’.
‘Romulus’ opens with a track of the same name, an 80’s style electro affair that is truly Bowie in its characteristics. The vocals are atmospheric, with handclaps and tinkling synth effects creating accents throughout the track. The sound fades out dreamily into the next track, ‘Animalia’, an ambient tune that has enjoyed a lot of radio airplay and been through the special remix treatment by the likes of Lifelike and Purple Sneakers. The music brings on a sense of adventure with the percussion adding a sense of lightness to the seeming morbidity, as presented by the taxidermy in the track’s video clip.
‘The Wolves in the Walls’ carries on the animal theme unleashing ominous undertones heavy with a sense of embracing the wild beast within, ‘Your feet are bare, your hands are stained, your skin is torn / in the wolves we bite and we claw we howl’. The final track ‘Island Talk,’ rounds off the EP with increasingly distorted electro, snappy percussion and twinkling sound effects.
Whilst listening to this EP was thoroughly enjoyable, closer to the end things started to drag a little. The vocals tended to take a certain unchanged tone and I think something a bit punchier weaved into the music would have broken it up a little. On the whole ‘Romulus’ is hard to fault; the Voltaire Twins have crafted a set of intoxicating tracks, evoking a sense of escapism that pulls you into another world entirely.
Nazia Hafiz
‘Romulus’ opens with a track of the same name, an 80’s style electro affair that is truly Bowie in its characteristics. The vocals are atmospheric, with handclaps and tinkling synth effects creating accents throughout the track. The sound fades out dreamily into the next track, ‘Animalia’, an ambient tune that has enjoyed a lot of radio airplay and been through the special remix treatment by the likes of Lifelike and Purple Sneakers. The music brings on a sense of adventure with the percussion adding a sense of lightness to the seeming morbidity, as presented by the taxidermy in the track’s video clip.
‘The Wolves in the Walls’ carries on the animal theme unleashing ominous undertones heavy with a sense of embracing the wild beast within, ‘Your feet are bare, your hands are stained, your skin is torn / in the wolves we bite and we claw we howl’. The final track ‘Island Talk,’ rounds off the EP with increasingly distorted electro, snappy percussion and twinkling sound effects.
Whilst listening to this EP was thoroughly enjoyable, closer to the end things started to drag a little. The vocals tended to take a certain unchanged tone and I think something a bit punchier weaved into the music would have broken it up a little. On the whole ‘Romulus’ is hard to fault; the Voltaire Twins have crafted a set of intoxicating tracks, evoking a sense of escapism that pulls you into another world entirely.
Nazia Hafiz