Feature: Feeling Terrible in Detroit

Terrible Twos are the most frantically fantastic thing to come outof Detroit in recent years; a rock n roll carnival of synth sensationsand guitars on speed. I had a chance to see their show at the Pike Roomin Pontiac Friday October 24, and I… believe I saw the second coming.Their stage presence feeds off the audience, an audience devoid of any”scene”; only full of people strictly committed to hearing the musicalgenius of Detroit’s native sons.
Featured in Real Detroit this summer, the band has been riding adrunk wave of local celebrity stardom since the release of theircharmingly obnoxious self-titled full-length album. Playing withPsychedelic Horseshit and fellow Detroiters The Bill Bondsmen the othernight, the crowd was sporadic, but the energy was stripped of all indiecredibility as Terrible Twos took rightful command of the set.
CraigBrown is the mustached and insane presence of the band, running backand forth with his bass, screaming lines of life on the other side.Chris Campbell, the headband-wearing front man of the group,compliments Brown’s antics with a softer, yet just as intriguing poisewith his guitar. Both switch instruments continuously through the set.Jonathan Arthur, the amazingly intense guitar player sweats and kicksout riffs fast and strong. Jeffrey Jordon, the man in the back, poundsout the rough drumbeats crucial to the Two’s sound. Thrown into thenoise fest are the synth delicacies of leggy, immaculately dressedkeyboard-player Danny Bing.
Together, the band makes perfect sense while making no sense at all.Their chemistry is a force hidden in the dark streets and chaoticnights of Detroit life. On their self-titled full length album releasedby X! Records, the guys electrocute themselves to a noisier stream ofconsciousness. The band’s earlier 7″, “Radical Tadpoles” is also wortha listen.
You can find Terrible Twos playing anywhere from dirty basements tothe official stages of SXSW. The band is currently touring wherever andwhenever, playing shows in Manhattan and Atlanta. Their next show is atthe Lager House in Detroit with Lee Marvin Computer Arm and GardensNovember 26.