Dave Dobbyn: Twist

	Song List
1.	The Lap of the Gods
2.	Naked Flame
3.	P.C.
4.	It Dawned on Me
5.	Protection
6.	What Do You Really Want
7.	Gifted
8.	Betrayal
9.	Language
10.	Umm
11.	Rain on Fire
12.	I Can't Change My Name

	USA Version includes
4.	Lament for the Numb
6.	Belle of the Ball
7.	Maybe the Rain

TWIST is the first disc Dobbyn has made that has sounded like a natural progression from the one before it. It is Lament for the Numb's less psychotic younger brother. That album, recorded and largely written in Los Angeles around the time of the Rodney King riots, was fuelled with anger and angst. By contrast, Twist is joyful, a celebration of homecoming. The opener, "The Lap of the Gods", sets the tone, its soaring chorus conjuring up the open spaces of the South Pacific in a similar way to much of Crowded House's Together Alone.

One of the things that makes Twist so endlessly surprising is its deliberate and sudden shifts in scale- it drops from the roaring rock anthem of "What Do You Really Want" to the almost African rural atmosphere of "Gifted"; from the meditative, Mellotron driven "Betrayal", one is lifted into the surging pop chorus of "Language". And then there's "It Dawned on Me", perhaps the most perfect song Dobbyn has written, with its "Yesterday"-style string arrangement and melody that taps some ancient Celtic muse.

Twist is both abrasive and beautiful. Labels like "pop" and "alternative" are redundant; there are guitar sounds here that the Dead C would kill for, yet also choruses that will make your grandmother say, "Now that's a real song." When records like this are being made in New Zealand, it is an exciting time to be listening.

[excerpt adapted from Nick Bollenger's review of Twist.]

Dave Dobbyn

Epic (Sony): (1994) Tristar (Sony): (1995)- USA

Epic (Sony): (1994)
Tristar (Sony): (1995)- USA