I’ve engaged in my share of harebrained musical schemes over the past couple decades (one of which you find yourself immersed in at the very moment), but somehow the idea of improvising a rock song feels like a step too far for me. Fortunately for us all, Double or Muffin is not similarly restrained. “Twilight in Seattle” – allegedly made up on the spot just for this particular release – is a sprawling, hallucinogenic musical account of a walk around North Seattle. Our unreliable narrator starts somewhere in the Northwest of the city and wanders around, commenting on the neighborhoods, the people, the food. As the story progresses the song gradually gains in intensity, the sonic landscape bringing a strange, dark energy to what should be a lovely stroll. Then we arrive in the U District, regrets begin to mount, and it all breaks down to the intertwining, sustained notes of an organ and a guitar, twirling around each other until the rhythm section comes in with a driving eight-note beat and things start to get frenetic and even weirder. Night has come, our narrator is surrounded by unpleasant people and just wants to go home, but this cursed rhythm section is mercilessly driving him like a racehorse – until it all falls off a cliff a little after the fifteen-minute mark, leaving us sweaty, broken, and a bit more wary of the U District. “Twilight in Seattle,” much like an extended amble in our fair city, is long, exhausting yet refreshing, somewhat mystifying, and ultimately satisfying.
Make sure to find your way back to Ballard this Friday to enjoy Double or Muffin’s set at the Ball of Wax 51 Release show!