The Twins of Franklin - This Life (2024)

Becky & Laura, The Twins of Franklin are not in fact twins, but best friends who fell in love belting show tunes and classical arias together in a dorm room. In the fifteen years since, they still have a lot in common. They’ve both become professional musicians, released multiple records, and played hundreds of shows as the Twins. Most recently, they’ve shared the experience of becoming moms.

Their second and newest album, This Life, mixes hard and soft like only one thing can — American girl rock. It’s both powerful and birdsong sweet — like taking your 70s convertible out for a rage cruise on a sunny spring day.

In contrast to their indie-pop album Low, This Life lets the Twins’ siren harmonies and band do the work. That band is made up of bass/harmonica player and third harmony Joe Shaheen and powerhouse drummer Brian Riedinger. Renowned producer Kevin Bowe (Etta James, The Replacements) knew exactly how to capture the energy of a Twins of Franklin live show, giving the album a perfect mix of raw emotion and organic instrumentation.

Becky & Laura know what words require disciplined intonation; their phrasing is subtle & has a tonality that shows the difference between just singing & voices that paint with melody. This is actually what separates people who have a good voice but no distinction (something that’s consistently evident in vocalists who never develop beyond their voices).

The Twins of Franklin also add many strokes to their singing arrangements that make a song (“The Wait”) interesting. But to keep things full bodied they trade off vocals (much the same way as The Judds) on tunes like “Life By Design” that’s as cool as anything Abba ever did. But here their application isn’t as commercially cheesy. If they had another deeper-voiced member they could effectively attempt more complicated Beach Boys harmonies.

An attempt at easy-listening middle-of-the-road type balladry isn’t quite their forte. It’s a bit low-brow dramatic & something better suited for Las Vegas & a cocktail or two. Some voices work with full orchestras, some with small combos & others in a trimmed-down acoustic staging. Their voices don’t gel with authority with electric pianos & strings, in my opinion.

Though the song “Worry” does succeed because the arrangement is more country homegrown, rootsy & pure. Theirs is a sound that works best with sonics to excite their tight arrangements, crisp vocalizations & good-natured sinuous musical imagination as the earlier songs displayed.

“Stuck Inside,” is a prodigious tune wonderfully performed but…but…it can do without the whistling. The Twins of Franklin perform with clever power & that’s their motivation — done with a musical delicacy derived from being a class act. Quite a strong showing.