Hi, everyone. Lockthony Intano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Twisted Teens record, Florida Water Blues.

Twisted Teens are a music duo hailing from New Orleans consisting of Caspian Hollywell and RJ Santos, who I will be referring to as their stage names from here forward in the review because they're cooler: C-Bird Hollywell and Razor "The Razor" Ramone.

Yes, they are back with a brand new record, which is actually their second album in 2026 already following February's Blame the Clown. And they are also anticipating a third album release later in the fall, which is crazy, but apparently they record these records very quickly, putting together a lot of their tracks off of improvised jams and riffs that they do without really writing too much down in preparation.

But I digress. This is my first introduction to the duo's work and, honestly, it's leaving a really great first impression. The duo is also known for seamlessly blending or ripping apart a pretty wide variety of genres, putting them into a uniquely American stew, balancing between indie rock and country, folk, blues, and punk. They are also not shy about wearing their New Orleans roots on their sleeves, too. And this new record here, from what I understand, was actually intended to be their second LP, not their third. But I guess things just lined up that way, again, given the rapid pace these guys record their tracks, as they just had enough material around to put together another album that ended up being Blame the Clown.

And even though this record and its predecessor were released in pretty quick succession, you can really hear the difference in creative process between these two projects, because there is a refinement of sorts going on, I feel. Blame the Clown, yes, on the surface it does share a lot in common aesthetically with Florida Water Blues – the lo-fi production, the garage-y riffs, which have a very crunchy tone to them, C-Bird's deep, soulful, raspy lead vocals, The Razor's colorful steel guitar licks – but when listening to Blame the Clown, it's pretty clear that a lot of tracks from this record were built upon a lot of very loosely structured jams, without too much in the way of methodical or preconceived writing, which I think Florida Water emphasizes a lot more.

And also with Florida Water, I'm hearing a lot of nuances hidden in kind of the lo-fi madness of these mixes. The drums and drum machine beats have just a little bit more fidelity to them and low end. I'm hearing more touches of synths, fills, more low end on the bass. Not to mention The Razor finding more pockets to sort of throw these little touches of steel in, giving each song on this record a folksy kind of country feel, even in its punkiest and garage-iest pockets. So again, really a lot of the baseline elements that make Twisted Teens an interesting duo carry over onto Florida Water, but now with more potent songwriting and more of the bells and whistles that made them unique as a duo to begin with.

Also, I think these guys are doing a better job of embodying their influences and carrying the torch for, what I see to be, a lot of the artists that pioneered and made a name for themselves out of the the lo-fi rock scene that indie birthed in the mid and late 2000s. I'm thinking artists like Ty Segall, King Khan, and Barbecue Show. Also, Adam Savage's Teenage Cool Kids before he went fully in on doing Parquet Courts. And I would say in terms of vocals and guitar lines, there are a lot of parallels that Twisted Teens share in common with titans such as The Strokes, as well as newer acts like Viagra Boys.

But look, regardless of whatever genre and artist influences I can draw, nothing is going to sell this record to you like its catchy songwriting, gutsy performances, and nearly flawless run of 13 tracks which kicks off with "Why Did You Miss It?," a really fuzzy lo-fi garage rock song with driving riffs and expressive lead vocals that I think are a great introduction to Caspian as a performer. You will probably read many reviews of this duo, kind of saying it sounds like he smokes a lot of cigarettes or just smoked a pack. To which I say, this man sounds like a cigarette dipped in tar and molasses and, I don't know, maybe some old phlegm in a jar. And the energy of this track, I'm sure, is going to be enough to pull most rock fans in.

Then, of course, following this, we have the track "Hand Me a Cigarette," which has more of a low-key, rustic, folksy flair to it, along with bits of garage and punk and blues, all kind of rolled into one. Again, think King Khan and Barbecue Show, but with a cowboy hat on. I also like the lyricism on this track about kind of figuring you're gonna die one day, so you might as well choose the way that you're gonna do it, apparently by smoking.

Then the song "Swamp" lives up to being a nasty, grungy piece of swamp rock. It's kind of like what CCR wishes they actually were, given the band hails from Northern California not the bayou. The guitar lines on this track are way slicker and catchier than they need to be, and I really love how descriptive some of the lyrics are:

"I live in a crazy swamp
Just about in the crotch of America
Smells like ket and two-piece chicken
And the air's all made of bacteria."

There's also a swagger about it as well that, once again, does remind me of bands such as The Strokes, but with more of a rough around the edges feel about it. This is an influence that I would say carries over onto the track "Guided Thunder" too, which has booming drums, roaring guitars. It is a total riff fest, one of the most saturated and blown-out songs on the entire record. I love how loud and impenetrable this song is, and yet Caspian's vocals still slice through the mix effortlessly, because his singing is just that bold and loud and unique.

Then we bring things down once again with the title track, which is kind of like a storied folk and bluegrass tune, but if, again, it could have a lo-fi garage rock veneer on it, with an insanely catchy chorus to boot: "You can drink that Florida water and go blind."

We bring the energy up once again with "Top Of The World Hwy No. 2," which sounds like driving 80 miles an hour with a monster truck down the freeway, running over every Cybertruck in your path. It feels great, but simultaneously, a lot of the lyricism does read like an environmental warning of sorts, at least in terms of how I'm interpreting it.

"Concealed Weepin"' is a track where the duo leans a lot more into talk-sung vocals, which makes this one a bit of a mixed bag for me as I do think it drags on a bit, even if I do like the kind of misunderstood loner character portrait the track is delivering. We hear some sad escapism on "Riding" with a very solid tune in tow. Also after this, "Business" gives us what I think is an even better talk-sung moment, where Caspian's vocals have him sounding like he's giving a mad country rock sermon, waving snakes in the air, asking me to donate my retirement fund to the church, all while he's doing this in the name of somebody who has very clearly pissed him off.

Then we have a bit of a tearjerker with "Javelina," which is a downtrodden ballad with a southwestern country flavor. A lot of lyrical lamentations around the violence of hunters, but it's kind of employed in a metaphorical way. Still a heart-wrenching song no matter which way you read it.

And then we get kind of kitschy in the sweetest and most enjoyable way on "Weather the Season," which, again, as rough and as rockin' as it is on the surface, at the core of it, it does kind of feel like a doo-wop tune. It's gentle, it's sweet, it's tender, it's in 3/4 time. And yet again, one of many tracks on this record that prove the steel guitar is really the MVP of this record, and just adds so much character and personality to tracks that, again, otherwise would just kind of sound like regular lo-fi rock tunes. With great vocals and songwriting, of course, but, again, it's just the X factor here.

"Dancer" is another track in this track list that I think drags a little bit, but I can't help but, again, feel charmed by Caspian's lyrical descriptions and musings about what sounds like this stripper's dance routine, making these absolutely psychotic and outlandish comments and observations of the whole thing – even a few that are self-censored with bleeps in the song. And with "Sun Go Down," we have another ballad-type folksy finish, a slow burner, that is a pretty emotional moment despite, again, it being so rough around the edges and nasty.

Because as grimy and as gutter as a lot of this record is, it has a lot of emotion and a lot of heart to it. It's sweet and it's badass at the same time. The songs, the production, the performances, just everything is on point with this thing. For what this record is, genre-wise, I do think the track list is maybe a little bit bloated and chunky, but I still love the vast, vast majority of songs on this thing and think that Twisted Teens are gonna be a band to watch for a minute. And this is an album I see myself coming back to pretty often throughout the rest of 2026 at the very least. Which is why I'm feeling a light to decent 9 on this album.

Anthony Fantano. Twisted Teens. Forever.