A few days back I was asked what my favourite record labels were. The top of that list, you ask? Count Your Lucky Stars. Why? It’s because of records like this. Two Knights is a two-piece band from Texas. They play the kind of songs you’d perhaps expect a two-piece band from Texas signed to CYLS to play: Raw, twangy, and incredible. Over the course of 13 songs, ‘Shut Up’ is both devastating and heart swelling. Not from song to song, not from verse to chorus, but always. Two ends of the emotional spectrum wrapped in a blanket of nostalgia and played fantastically.

‘If It’s Brocken, It’s Brocken’ demonstrates this from the off. Flitting from fuzz to clean tones, from angelic vocals to screeches in a heartbeat. ‘It Doesn’t Matter Matt, I’m Never Going To Cast Boulderfall’ is a driving beast,and following track, ‘Just Pick a Dead End and Chill Out Till You Die’, is a beauty. Off the back of these opening three tracks it’s apparent that Two Knights have played a masterstroke with ‘Shut Up’. For this record to average out poorly the remaining ten tracks would have to be unlistenable.

I concede that I may have given the game away a little with my opening paragraph. At this point I may be overstating it. Are those next ten tracks unlistenable? No. Those next ten tracks continue to excel. ‘Symphony for the Righteous Destruction of Humanity’ is a cacophony of gorgeous screams once the soft build of the intro has broken. ‘Dangerously’ is home to a handful of sweet riffs that get barely a moment, before they’re replaced by another brilliant moment of guitar fiddling. Such is this band’s ability. Talent flares from both members without becoming a drawn out attempt to highlight just how sweet that ability is.

‘Sorry: The Musical’ is devastating. Screams and crashes lay the scene bare once the melody of the song’s early progressions have given way. Closer ‘Major League Bullshit’ is the longest track, clocking in at a comparatively mammoth 3:07. Never throughout this epoch does the song grow dull, does the album seem played out. It’s the last piece of a puzzle that will break hearts in the same moment it comforts them. Two Knights, thirteen brilliant titles, thirteen brilliant songs, one brilliant album, five marks out of five.

5/5

‘Shut Up’ by Two Knights is out on the 8th of April on Count Your Lucky Stars.

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Words by Thomas Knott (@thislifeishuge)