Twin Forks - Twin Forks

I've always been a huge fan of Chris Carrabba. I was upset when he left Further Seems Forever (which he's rectified), but I still loved Dashboard Confessional, maybe even more than I loved Further. And Twin Forks is no exception.

Twin Forks is Carrabba's new folk outfit. And it might be his best work since "The Moon Is  Down." It's his most emotive work since "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most." Twin Fork's debut LP is honest and reflective, while managing to be fun. It's almost as if the record is meant to be listened to on vinyl. It's split into two sides.

The side is fun and upbeat, full of great singles and sing-a-long choruses. Can't Be Broken takes a second to fully come alive as a kick drum and mandolin lead the build that explodes by the time the chorus kicks in. The hook gets into your head and by the second time through, you're singing right along. Which is the way all of Chris' great songs have been. A fun upbeat song about finding real love. Cross My Mind has car commercial written all over the intro (in fact I'm sure I've heard it on tv), but in a good way. Like if you heard it, you'd want to find out what the song was.

Back To You is my favorite track from side a. It's a big fun party of a song. It sounds like Chris is truly enjoying himself making music, more than he has in years. Kiss Me Darling is more reflective in sound. The wanting for a kiss and missing your love. It's like the opposite of the lyrical content from "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most." Scrapping Up The Pieces feels like a great Irish drinking song. You gather around the bar with your buddies and belt the chorus out as Chris leads the band. Something We Just Know closes out side a with more of a stripped down sound. Random yells and shouts in the background help create this good times, fun atmosphere.

And then side b starts. Side b is more reflective and introspective. The opening guitar strums on Danger might seem upbeat but it slowly comes back down to some palm muted plucking for the verse. It's a great song, pleading with the ones you love to be safe, to make sure they get back to you without being harmed. The hook on Plans is simple, but it's absolutely beautiful. You can feel this pained longing on Done Is Done, and the chorus rings with such beauty that you want to put yourself in Chris' shoes to truly understand what he's singing about.

Who's Looking Out is the final song on the album. It's a question. Who's looking out for you now? It's a great song that leaves the interpretation up to the listener as to the context of Chris' question.

Twin Forks debut LP is beautiful. It's perfect. As a long time fan of Carrabba's work, this might his best work ever. This is an album worth owning!