Album Retrospective: Truly's 'Twilight Curtains' (2000)

Once or twice a year, the Spanish label Bang! Records delivers some extraordinary news.

While I am forever grateful for Truly's Fast Stories From Kid Coma and Feeling You Up reissues, Bang! Records has done a great job reissuing several obscure records from Pacific Northwest bands such as Love Battery, Bloodloss, and Bundle of Hiss. It seems the label is bringing the Mr. Epp compilation Ridiculing The Apocalypse to vinyl this autumn too.

Bang! has released a lot of punk/noise rock from Australian bands, in addition to lost albums and tons of other awesome stuff.

One of this year's second surprises, besides the Mr. Epp reissue, was that the Truly compilation Twilight Curtains was given a second life on vinyl after 25-plus years. This is pretty exciting as I write this, waiting for my copy to arrive.

Initially released in 2000 on the UK's Sweet Nothing Records and named after the third track from the Feeling You Up LP, this compilation offers rare and unreleased songs recorded between 1991 and 1999. The album features the title song, as well as "Wait ’Til the Night" from the Feeling You Up LP, "I Hit Ignition," a Robert Roth solo track that was recorded around the Kid Coma era, some unreleased songs, and even a cover of the Beach Boys’ "Girl Don't Tell Me You'll Write."

However, the only song not included on this vinyl reissue is "Aliens On Alcohol." It's one of my favorite songs from Truly, but I won't hold any grudges, as the track was also featured on the Kid Coma vinyl reissue, and to be honest, it fits better with the album's concept rather than on a collection of rare and unreleased tracks.

According to the band, they received 15 copies of the compilation, seven of which were signed and made available early on their Bandcamp page. I would have loved to own one, but since overseas shipping has gotten insanely high, I'm happy with a non-signed copy as well. Anyway, Truly has been one of my favorite bands to come out of the "grunge" milieu. Their music is heavy, dreamy, and it always manages to take me back to the time when I first discovered them. To me, this compilation is a must-have if you are a fan of PNW releases and also '90s alternative in general. Musically, it ranges from neo-psychedelic indie rock to chamber power-pop, grunge, and even a dreamy trip-hop-ish instrumental at the end - a sonic trip throughout Truly's music career.

While the CD version is kind of hard to come by, make sure you purchase a copy of this, as only 500 were pressed.

As I am writing this, the news from Truly's headquarters doesn't seem to stop. The band announced that Fast Stories...From Kid Coma will be re-released in 2027 via Virgin Records as a double gatefold on clear blue vinyl, and it will also include "Aliens On Alcohol." Maybe a reissue of Robert's solo album Someone, Somewhere from 2004 will also see the light of day at some point. One can only hope. Truly is truly one of the greatest acts to emerge from the '90s alternative scene.

See you next time!

Dan – The Sonic Mosquito

For more information about Truly, visit trulyband.com.

Dan Tecucianu is the creator of the audio series Sonic Mosquito, a personal collection of PNW underground, punk, grunge, and more from the '80s and beyond. Expect deep cuts, raw energy, and some gems you probably haven’t heard in a while, presented by DJ Bleek of Urban Mutant. The show airs every other Friday night, from 10:00 p.m. to 11:oo p.m. PST.

For more reviews from Dan, visit thesonicmosquitosoup.wordpress.com.