Two Gallants 'What The Toll Tells' album

Bringing an infusion of bloody-knuckled punk energy to storytelling epics and tear-in-your-beer honky-tonk, the two musicians of Two Gallants had the balls to name themselves after a short story by James Joyce, and they back up their hubris by crafting a surprisingly original sound out of their timeworn influences.

Founded in 2002 by childhood friends and San Francisco natives Adam Stephens (vocals, harmonica, guitar) and Tyson Vogel (drums, vocals), Two Gallants cut their teeth at house parties and frequent guerilla shows outside Mission Street BART stations. Equally adept at dark, brokenhearted ballads shot through with a whiskey-soaked wit that belies their youth (Adam and Tyson are in their early 20s) and punked-up jigs that make the duo sound like a pared-down version of the Pogues tackling Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, the gallants honed their startlingly mature material with extensive touring and a couple of homemade CDs, long before they had an album in stores.

Their proper debut, The Throes, was recorded in Berkeley in early 2004 and released by Alive Records. The resulting album details vivid narratives built around Stephens’s craggy, potent voice and intricate picking and propelled by Vogel’s alternately muscular and sensitive rhythms.

las cruces jail marks Two Gallants’ first release on Saddle Creek. Recorded at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco with Scott Solter during August 2005, Two Gallants’ second record what the toll tells will be released on Saddle Creek in February 2006. Look for Adam & Tyson touring Europe in November 2005 with The Decemberists, and then around the US and Europe again next year in support of the new release.

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Two Gallants - What The Toll Tells