The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia

It's always tempting to add up the power behind

the names in a supergroup and assume that's how super the new group will be.

But that math almost never works, and so it goes with The Gutter Twins, the

brilliantly named new project from some of alt-rock's most infamously indulgent

players. Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan

(Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age) have worked together before, but Saturnalia is the full-length

collaboration that's been bubbling for years, and while that kind of

anticipation might be partially to blame for the relative indifference that the

album inspires, it's hard to imagine these songs generating more excitement

under any other circumstances. Which isn't to say that it lacks

redemption—Lanegan's growl and Dulli's sweetly suspicious croon (which

has been selling his ass to the ladies for years) work together well, and help

take the album into darker and darker corners, whether they're blasting

cock-rock riffs or tickling the keys. Saturnalia also benefits from a

purposeful atmosphere—as opposed to, say, Bernard Sumner and Johnny

Marr's Electronic project, which had some great moments but always felt a bit

half-assed—but it's unfortunate that the Twins' mission statement seems

to be more about mood than memorable songs.