The Gutter Twins

Andy J Ryan Apr 25, 2023

Gutter Twins, York Theatre, July 23, 2009

Former Afghan Whig Greg Dulli combines with former Screaming Tree Mark Lanegan as the Gutter Twins.

Three men calmly entered the stage dressed entirely in black, like the grunge version of The Highwaymen. Greg Dulli and his associate, David, bore acoustic guitars, while in between sat Mark Lanegan with just his voice. It was all he needed.
Both Dulli and Lanegan’s songs and styles are so different, yet weave together so seamlessly within the Gutter Twins set-up. Dulli takes the darker and more direct route to the heart of his songs, giving them a strained intensity with his sharp strumming and pained vocals. Whereas Lanegan possesses a voice that can sink beneath and permeate through a song, such is its almost morbid depth and richness. Dulli’s songs seem filled with personal anguish while Lanegan’s take more of a world-weary, almost resignedly futile standpoint. When these two forces overlap, like in the coupling of the religious and personal torment-filled ‘God’s Children’ and ‘The Station’ the result is spectacular as both voices seethe and soar as the songs impressively unravel.
Rather than hide from their respective musical pasts, the pair revel in them, with the set list skirting through both men’s bands (two Afghan Whigs songs), Lanegan’s solo excursions and also touching on The Twilight Singers, where the pair’s paths had previously crossed. The songs were played almost diplomatically, with lead vocals being alternated and tempered so neither overwhelmed the other.
While the title of these two special Splendour sideshows – ‘An Acoustic Evening With…’ may suggest a stripped-down, laid-back tone, it was anything but. This was as intensely memorable and powerful as any full-band show could have been. The songs certainly lacked nothing in potency even with the instrumentation stripped back to just guitars and occasional keyboard and these two disparate, but distinct voices more than left their mark. Pretty special.