Talking To You, Talking To Me

The Watson Twins' voices have been their greatest asset and their greatest liability. Their sisterly harmonies, so tight and effortless they seemingly could only be the product of twins, have taken them far-- most notably landing them a job adding 1970s country window dressing to Jenny Lewis' Rabbit Fur Coat. Those voices also got them a deal at Vanguard Records and a modest following well outside of Los Angeles. On the other hand, their first EP and debut LP highlighted those voices primarily by stripping everything else away, leaving their vocals to anchor subpar songs, and an anonymous musical backdrop that placed them squarely in an L.A. folk-rock revival alongside far less agile groups like the Chapin Sisters, Biirdie, and the Winter Flowers.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Watson Twins’ music thus far in is their ability to add layers and textures to the material of others’ music. It’s telling that their best song from Fire Songs was a cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” and while that album had some gems scattered among the largely anonymous arrangements, it was still hard to distinguish the artists the Watson Twins from the backing band the Watson Twins. Perhaps that was the point; after all much of Fire Songs continued in the same mountain soul twang of their collaboration with Jenny Lewis, Rabbit Fur Coat. But at this specific juncture in their career, the set of twins (Chandra and Leigh) seem to be hell bent on forging an identity that reads more than just Jenny Lewis-knock offs.