It's always tempting to add up the power behind
the names in a supergroup and assume that's how super the new group will be.
But that math almost never works, and so it goes with The Gutter Twins, the
brilliantly named new project from some of alt-rock's most infamously indulgent
players. Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan
(Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age) have worked together before, but Saturnalia is the full-length
collaboration that's been bubbling for years, and while that kind of
anticipation might be partially to blame for the relative indifference that the
album inspires, it's hard to imagine these songs generating more excitement
under any other circumstances. Which isn't to say that it lacks
redemption—Lanegan's growl and Dulli's sweetly suspicious croon (which
has been selling his ass to the ladies for years) work together well, and help
take the album into darker and darker corners, whether they're blasting
cock-rock riffs or tickling the keys. Saturnalia also benefits from a
purposeful atmosphere—as opposed to, say, Bernard Sumner and Johnny
Marr's Electronic project, which had some great moments but always felt a bit
half-assed—but it's unfortunate that the Twins' mission statement seems
to be more about mood than memorable songs.