Unkempt, unadulterated, and beautifully unapologetic, two blinks, i love you’s “sentiment” is a scuzzy indie rock eruption full of fire and fury, gritty guitars and grungy, gut-wrenching emotions.
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Stream: “sentiment” – two blinks, i love you
I think this song is an introduction to the other side of the fence, and on this side in particular the grass is a bit charred and unkept, maybe a few spots of devil poo there too.
For the longest time, I didn’t really know what the term “scuzzy” meant.
It’s probably not cool to admit that, but I’d only ever seen it written in other music reviews – definitely never spoken aloud – and so whenever I’d encounter it, I’d inevitably look it up… keep on reading… and promptly forget whatever I’d just looked up. Cambridge Dictionary says scuzzy means “unpleasant and dirty.” For the good folks at Dictionary.com, it means “dirty, grimy, sordid, or repulsive.” Merriam-Webster‘s editors are even more colorful: To them, something that’s scuzzy is “dirty, shabby, or foul in condition or character.”
I get that words co-opted by music reviewers and the culture at large are less about rigid dictionary definitions and more about how they make you feel inside, but in my heart of hearts I know that two blinks, i love you’s “sentiment” is scuzzy, and so here is my homemade (i.e., made up) definition: Something that is scuzzy is dirty, but nevertheless appealing for its grungy look and feel. I guess you could probably say Nirvana were a scuzzy band – Bleach and In Utero are definitely scuzzy; the jury’s still out about Nevermind.
If you were to ask me just a month ago about Liam Brown’s new musical project two blinks, i love you, I’d have called it heartfelt, tender, vulnerable, and endearing. His debut single “i love you” – an Atwood Editor’s Pick from last December – is a heart-on-sleeve outpouring of raw emotion and radiant, tempered indie rock filled with passion and purpose. “Between a catchy, shoegaze-y alternative guitar pattern that instantly recalls the likes of Goo Goo Dolls and Blur, and his own hot-on-the-mic, intimate whisper-like singing, Brown captivates and enchants on a song that proves as catchy as it is cathartic,” I wrote at the time.
two blinks’ five-track debut EP, released this past June and affectionately titled ep 1, leans further into indie folk territory. Brown even called it “a romantic record,” and while it doesn’t shy away from electronic elements, the songs are all rooted to a sound that is undeniably organic, authentic, and natural. I spent much of my track-by-track feature (worth reading!) on the EP picking apart the various nuances of Brown’s exceptionally warm music and intimate lyrics, and never once did words like “dirty” or “grimy” come to mind.
Imagine my surprise when I first heard “sentiment,” and scuzzy fit like a glove.
Released October 31 via Heist or Hit, two blinks, i love you’s latest song isn’t so much spooky (it is a Halloween single, after all) as it is pure, unadulterated scuzz. From the searing electric guitars raging on the intro to Brown’s churning lyrics, and even his own hot-on-the-mic vocal performance, there’s a grit to this song that makes it irreconcilably unkempt, yet nonetheless irresistible. The scuzz is the allure on “sentiment,” a hard-hitting indie rock song that aches with sonic fervor and inner fracture as Brown wrestles with invisible, but ever-present demons:
Got nothing to prove
Got nothing to gain
My brother in arms
And my brother in pain
The idle errands
And the message you sent
Well it all boils down
To my lover’s lament
It all boils down
To my lover lament
Speaking to Atwood Magazine, Brown explains that “sentiment” is an intentional sonic departure from his debut. For him – and as we will no doubt discover over time, with more releases – two blinks, i love you is unencumbered, free to be whatever style or genre he so pleases.
“‘sentiment,’ for me, is a tiny veer off from the gentler sound of ep 1,” he shares. “I think I’ve always envisioned two blinks reflecting both heavy and light sides of my songwriting, so this being the follow up single after the EP was kind of necessary.”
The idle errands and the message you sent, well it all boils down to my lover’s lament…
Even the (excuse my pun!) sentiment behind this new song is scuzzy; whereas his first five tracks explored themes of nostalgia, romance, and connection, “sentiment” dwells in a state of isolation, detachment, and depersonalization. His chorus is a visceral and heated climax of raw, pent-up energies:
This is a sentiment to the one
I never talk about it
Am I the only sun
That casts another’s shadow?
Who am I to say?
Who am I to say?
This is a sentiment to the one…
“I think thematically, there’s a lot about feelings of loneliness, maybe being slightly detached from the world, sort of the feelings that come with like depersonalisation, perhaps,” Brown muses. “The beginning touches on leaning on friends, in good and bad situations… it’s still very abstract to me what the main themes of this song are, but I hope it’s something that can change meaning depending on how you are feeling when you listen to it!”
“sentiment” does have its gentle moments, too; there’s a beautiful section of fiddle-picking in the track’s breakdown, accompanied by some eerie whisper-singing that sends chills down the spine as Brown literally sings “time to break me down” on repeat.
But that alone doesn’t unscuzz the scuzz.
In fact, the song’s music video enhances the grunginess of the moment. Caustic and unsettling, the video accompaniment offers a chaotic complement to the music’s raw, lo-fi churn. There’s an unapologetic attitude to the entire performance; a bit of ’90s counter-culture punk seeps under the skin as Brown relishes in making a deliberately “low quality,” but nonetheless provocative, bit of visual scuzz.
“The video also reflects that I think the devil ‘Ronnie’ – who is the main iconography of the band – is kind of unassuming and sweet, but the devil imagery in this video is almost the complete opposite,” Brown explains. “The devils in this video look kind of disgusting and act like dopes, and have questionable morals I imagine. Definitely a far cry from Ronnie.”
I may not have known what “scuzzy” meant before, but I definitely do now.
two blinks, i love you’s “sentiment” is a scuzzy indie rock eruption full of fire and fury, gritty guitars and grungy, gut-wrenching emotions. He may have showed us his more tender works first, but it turns out that Brown’s edgier side is just as appealing – if not totally enthralling.
Get lost (like I did) in the scuzz, and stay tuned for more to come from Liam Brown’s uninhibited musical mind as he no doubt barrels toward a very exciting ep 2!
This is a sentiment to the one
I never talk about it
Am I the only sun
That casts another’s shadow?
Who am I to say?
Who am I to say?
This is a sentiment to the one
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