The Art Snob Archive

Two Gallants - Oct 13 2006

He picked up his noble compatriot along the way, and the two set forth like a modern day Guevara and Granado; traveling not South America but Southern Ontario, discussing not the wretched lot of the poor but rather the abysmal effort set forth by Razorlight on their latest record.

The two soon reached the dangerous district of Queen St. West, where they braved lawless abandon and stretched forth across squalor to reach the hub of discordance and debauchery that is the Horseshoe Tavern. Here they were to witness an explosion born from the Antebellum South: the whiskey-voiced combination of delta blues and melodic folk music that is ‘Two Gallants’.

It was when his esteemed companion left to try his luck with some of the Tavern’s barmaids that your brave columnist began to ponder the great tradition of intellectual partnership in the art world. Some of the most outstanding masterpieces of art have emerged from the intense interaction between two great minds, from the photo-montages of Gilbert and George to the monumental installations of Christo and Jeanne-Claude to the entire Cubist movement that was born from the brushes of Picasso and Braque. What greatness can emerge when two people share a vision!

Two Gallants, it seems, share this philosophy. The name is not simply a clever reference to a short story by James Joyce, but also an accurate description of the band’s membership. The two young fellows in the band have chosen to neglect the bass guitar and any other sort of elaboration to foster a close relationship between the guitarist’s finger-picking and the drummer’s rhythmic sensibilities. From this minimalist approach emerges a diverse catalogue of songs laden with complicated transitions and complex melodies that are only possible because of the intimate connection between the two players.

Two Gallants are part of a series of bands today experimenting with the tradition of “the duo”. More and more musicians are pursuing close collaboration and partnership these days, an affront to the “collective” philosophy of such bands as the 25-member Polyphonic Spree or the 8-member Architecture in Helsinki.

Last year, the two members of Death From Above became veritable Gods with their aggressive combination of bass and drums, and the Black Keys did what the White Stripes couldn’t and kept my respect as a blues-rock duo. The independent music scene is alight with such “duos” as Japanther, I Am the World Trade Center, and the electronic avant-gardes Fog Runs with Kenyans.

To take the idea of “intimacy” of collaboration a step further, many musical partnerships have been formed by lovers, the more famous being the Kills, Mates of State, and New York-based Mommy & Daddy. Indeed, watching VV and Hotel of the Kills interact on stage feels slightly like an invasion of their privacy, but no doubt the two inspire each other in a manner that the five members of the Strokes cannot.

As he watched both members of Two Gallants screaming into their mics about the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, your darling columnist couldn’t help but feel he was privy to the result of an important artistic partnership. He was inspired, to say the least, and perhaps when his friend was finished with the local floozies they too could engage in some sort of collaboration. He would advise you, as well, to search for a collaborator…two art snobs are always better than one. Godspeed.

posted by HLL @ Thursday, October 12, 2006