ALBUM REVIEW: Phillip Twitchell's "Elated"

 “Elated”

Sophomore album by Phillip Twitchell

Reviewed by Allen Fennewald

Phillip Twitchell’s album “Elated” is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Youtube, and more!

Find Phillip Twitchell on: Facebook, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and YouTube

What happens when an Ozarks boy goes to California? Turns out, an amazing body of work.

Phillip Twitchell’s “Elated” is a presentation of versatility, taking up a new genre with almost every track. The front man/rhythm guitarist and his ensemble nail each sound as if they’ve played it together for years. They jam, they belt, they swing. They get down and they rise up. And yet, this expertly assembled group of musicians never practiced a bar before entering the studio. 

There’s a song on this album for pretty much any setting — from honkey tonks to cigar parlors. While the album was recorded at Ramona Music Center in Ramona, California, the heterogeneity of the record came to reflect the multi-faceted spirit of a man from the Lake of the Ozarks. 

“It’s a sum of sounds from a local Lake of the Ozarks musician,” Twitchell said.

His vocals are powerful while approachable, holding a somber tone that is just short of gravelly — like a young Bruce Springsteen who took a lozenge.

The sound quality is absolutely crispy thanks to the talents of engineer and producer Jon Hasz, who also happens to be the bassist and slide guitarist along with backing vocals. 

The album’s name was initially set as “Reality Check”, but Twitchell was inspired to change it after watching, of all things, a Ted Bundy documentary. A sheriff had said he was “elated” to have Bundy in custody, and the word seemed to fit Twitchell’s feelings toward the record.

Twitchell hopes that at least one of the tracks will help listeners get through the day and aid them in understanding something about themselves.

Then “my job has been done, and that will continue my progression as an artist,” he said.

“Shit”, the opening track, is much prettier than the title suggests. It has a jam band energy with the soothing nature of “Here Comes the Sun”. That’s a lot to say for a breakup song.

Twitchell wrote the song in a slow, lo-fi style — Nick Drake meets Elliot Smith — but it picked up a lot of steam once they started working on it in the studio — more like U2 meets Brad Paisley, he said.

The guitar comes in soft and sweet as spring — think bunnies, butterflies and warm sunrays through the trees. The opening lyrics speak of hope and unity.

In and out, you give me wishful thinking, 

Maybe someday, I could be a better man, 

On the highway, you let me pick the station 

To something only we could understand

But then the serenity is broken. 

I can't tell if you’re just using me, 

Or if you’re something, I could truly understand, 

I feel like it's all this using, 

It’s the using that's lost all of my friend.

From there, the music lifts into a belted chorus, backed by the talented Heather Nation, that pulls no punches with the namesake lyric, “It’s gone, it’s gone to shit.” Travis Dahl then breaks in with a glittering guitar solo. Twitchell told Dahl to play the solo and think about a drunk hillbilly crying at a bonfire, toasting to the moon at the end of a truck bed, offering a cheers to the guitar solo in the sky. 

“Cold” is a love song for warm bodies. Twitchell reminisces on past passions and caresses old wounds in an atmosphere of sweet cigar smoke in a dimly lit room.

The intro comes with a rhythm that makes you stomp and sway in euphoric rhythm & blues sort of way — think Big Mama Thornton’s “Ball and Chain”.

She gets cold

She needs a body

Anybody

Twitchell’s vocals are Swoonatra smooth through the verses — he must’ve recorded this one wearing a smoking jacket and suede shoes.

The song rises into the chorus, which caps with titillating oohs and aahs that bring tingles to the spine.

The chorus asks: 

How does it feel? 

It feels pretty damn good, in that yearning sort of way. 

Nowadays when you'd close your eyes, 

Does the door arrive, and in come new 

Could you close your book, 

Take this second look, 

You sold it all you crook, 

So how does it feel

The song closes on a dreamy whirlwind as the guitars seem to swirl around you and the ride cymbal carries you through, like a life raft through rough waters. It’s one of those moments when it really sinks in how amazing it is that the musicians hadn’t even written their parts before entering the studio. Twitchell said they went in to record with “eyes closed”.

“And they all just melted into my songs without me really having to force anything,” he said.

Twitchell outside of Doug Weston’s “Troubadour” venue in West Hollywood, CA.

“Easily” comes in as the title would suggest, nice and easy with some light guitar chords, before the vocals and driving beat break into the scene like the Kool-Aid man at a tea party. 

Son of a bitch,

How did you know

It just might go so easily

So Easily

The beat jumps on the one count like it don’t take no mess. The rhythm guitar maintains a steady strum until the breaks, which begin light and dreamy before building into a hypnotic frenzy. 

This song reminds me of something that Dear in the Headlights would’ve put out on “Drunk Like Bible Times”. It’s punchy yet has this near-spiritual element.

“Lonely Heart” grooves hard and proud, like Stevie Wonder decided to remix “Higher Ground” with some help from the guys in Living Colour. The verses have a funky drive and the chorus breaks into a belted harmony that goes:

Oh, little lonely heart

Where you stand

Is where you could start

Oh, little mopey eyes

With your offset sighs

Who knows where you want to be

It’s a lyrical pep talk to someone who is down on themselves. Yet the instrumentals are nothing but confident, almost braggadocios, with big energy, slick guitar licks and some quick drum work.

This song rocks hard enough to make you want to punch someone, but it’s so groovy that you’ll just end up dancing with them.

“Home is Where the Heart Is” takes a hard right on the track list. It doesn’t take long to learn about the kind of song you’re listening to. As a rurally-inclined speaker tells you in the intro, “It’s a travelin’ song.” 

Twitchell comes into this space like a cooler Randy Newman with just a dash of twang in his voice and a whole lot of story to tell over some gentle chords.

Playing down a westgate road, 

I'm breathing in this city, 

Well this city, it's so cold

This little number has a down-home somber tone and melancholy refrain that pokes at hopefulness like a little boy pokes at an old dog, trying to get a couple more trick out of the tired thing. Hasz, who Twitchell describes as Mozart and Gandhi in one man, plays a smooth slide guitar that fills in all the gaps between the six strings.

We whine and cry along with a snappy backing beat, thinking about years gone by and dreams that just can’t be set aside. 

Said, I guess I’m 

Guess I’m doing fine

At least that’s what I’m gonna tell my mind

“Same Ol Story” is a mellow vibe. Twitchell’s vocals are soft and wispy over splashing cymbals. Guitar chords twinkle like passing headlights in the night.

But the stars, so far away

Well they call out to play

From the wide open shores

To the wide open doors

This song opens with a favorite topic for rock ‘n’ roll and country music alike: class struggles; how little control a person without means feels in a world propelled by big money — like a pebble in a hurricane. But that’s a tale old as time, even before registered corporate lobbyists, “same old stories, with different games.”

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a photo of Twitchell withOUT a guitar in hand.

“Nothing Wrong” comes in with a big swaying beat and a funky organ, played by 15-year-old prodigy Ian Ross, that makes you hungry for Booker T’s “Green Onions”. 

We heard the breakup song up front. Now it’s time for the about to be broken up song. This lovers’ quarrel comes from the perspective of a suspicious boyfriend. The funky guitar licks bend with his frazzled nerves. 

Cause I’ve been wondering what you been doing since I been gone,

And why can’t you look in me in the eye now baby, 

If you ain’t done nothing wrong?

One can only imagine kitchen appliances flying across the kitchen as you dance along with the gut punching beat while thinking about things you’d like to say to the one who got away.

“History” opens with a guitar intro fit for a Tom Petty radio hit. Drummer Daniel Riveroll jumps into the mix like he’s ready to run down a dream, but Twitchell comes in with vocals that remind me more of George Thorogood. This working person’s blues plays out like a tragic version of “Johnny B. Good”.

Momma was a factory worker

Granddaddy grew up on a farm

Kansas City killed him 

As the blood rushed through his arms

The chorus features those big splashy Petty guitar chords as Twitchell and Nation take turns with the lead guitar singing Hey, hey, hey between licks. Twitchell said he was — dare I say it — elated to sing with Nation on the project, because her voice is so beautiful it brings tears to his eyes.

The lyrics carry us through the story of the singer’s grandparents through to his parents and their struggles and toils until finally, he reaches redemption. 

As I remember, I was young enough to walk

Momma put me on her shoulder where I could cry so soft

Now I am a man, and it’s big city life for me

Starring in this kick ass band

And can never forget, never forget, never forget

His-story

This song was the impetus of the entire “Elated” project. Hasz heard Twitchell play the track at an open mic in San Diego and was inspired to join the project after his father cried listening to “History”. Hasz then went about assembling musicians for the album from other bands around the area, other than Tempest, who comes from Twitchell’s Show-Me State.

“Country Charm” is a downright hoedown — a testament to rural living. 

It has a stomping beat that will knock the manure off your boots, and a redneck country singing style that could teach The Devil Makes Three a little something. 

The chorus speaks a truth every farm boy can understand.

Well life is hard, working on a farm

But you’re living your whole damn life on country charm

The verses speak to a Heartland America that everyone can recognize. 

Shut up, shut up, you ole goddamn TV

Can’t tell me what to do in my country

Oh no, dee, da, dee, de, dee, do

Twitchell wrote the song in a Linn Creek bar owned by Donna Tempest, the woman Twitchell credits with bringing him into the world of music. It has been Twitchell’s dream to work with her on a project for some time, and she traveled all the way to California to make it happen, recording the “wazzoo” [aka kazoo] prominently featured on this track. 

Twitchell sings with Donna Tempest, the woman Twitchell credits with bringing him into the world of music.

“Why Worry” is a great end to this album and probably my favorite song on the record. 

The last track has a mournful sound and heavy-handed lyrics, yet the music raises into a heavenly harmony that speaks to the sad at heart and picks you up from the depths. 

This track is especially amazing since Twitchell wrote 90% of it in the studio. It’s Twitchell’s favorite track on the album beside “Shit”. 

Twitchell was inspired to create the song after attending one of many funerals in support of a friend.

Saw you coming down

Said you’re leaving this town

’Cause they all keep a’dying

Now there’s no one around

It sounds like the feeling you get driving out of a sorrowful town at sunrise after a long night, feeling like there’s a new day ahead and lots of other places you could be. 

The chorus really gets me. The sound of the music feels so uplifting that you almost celebrate your emotional scars. 

So why worry,

Why, why worry

About a broken heart

When it’s broke from the start

The band hammers on the chorus with a staccato jump before falling back into its subtle, soothing sound for the guitar solo to ride like a leaf on the breeze. 

The vocal harmonies on this song are richer than truffles — powerful but never overpowering. They rise and fall on hills, at times belting and others almost cooing, but always asking, “why worry?” It’s the most reassuring of melancholia.

So I kiss on your hand

Said, ‘Baby I’d understand’

Such a sorrowful town,

They’re always bringing you down

The final moments of dead air on the track leave you with plenty to think about.

Check out Twitchell’s second full album and hear how one amazing musician from the Ozarks is making it happen on so many levels. “Elated” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Youtube.

Special thanks to Twitchell for chatting with us for this review. Turns out he’s also the nicest guy you could meet.

Stay tuned for the next Own Grown Productions album review and much more to come.