Defined scientifically, civil twilight is the time of day or evening when the center of the sun is six degrees below the horizon and terrestrial objects are still visible without the sun’s direct illumination. As defined by two South African brothers and their friend, Civil Twilight is a brilliant, thoughtful and energetic amalgam of Radiohead, U2, The Police and Jeff Buckley.
The Cape Town, South Africa, trio began when childhood friends Andrew McKellar and Richard Wouters began playing guitar together in the mid-’90s on a lark. By the end of the ’90s, Civil Twilight was being shaped by a number of American and British bands — Nirvana, Oasis and Blur chief among them — layered on top of their early Jazz and local township influences. After dominating the Cape Town club scene for years, the trio made the momentous decision to move to Los Angeles in 2005; long before the band had completed its just released self-titled debut album. Civil Twilight songs showed up at critical junctures during some of the biggest shows on television (Without a Trace, House, One Tree Hill, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), all within a single year.
See them at the Southgate House with Bad Veins, now, now every children and Hazle Weatherfield. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2009.
