Today marks the release of the Two Gallants’ fourth album, The Bloom and the Blight. This will be the first we’ve heard of San Francisco duo in five years, and it looks like they’ve made some changes during the break. Five years ago, the Two Gallants left us with a simple folk sound mixed with the faint hint of grunge in Adam Stephen’s rusty voice. Now the band is back to show you how it’s really done.

Buckling down with a steadier punk-influenced sound, Tyson Vogel bangs the shit out of the drumhead while Stephens lets those chords lose and whips out the pipes. Reinvented with a thundering sound laced with a sense of ferocity and urgency, the Two Gallants will have to reintroduce themselves to fans who knew them five years ago. And they won’t be disappointed. Ranging from the more classically  folk-y “Broken Eyes” to the super-charged “Halycon Days” and anthemic “Ride Away,” the new album should please both longtime fans and newcomers. As our writer Will Morley said, “For every delicately finger-picked, harmonica-kissed ballad, there’s a crescendo of down-tuned guitar, a brutish expression that’s a perfect counterpoint to the lyrical beauty we’ve come to expect.” You can check out our full review of the album in the September/October 2012 issue of Elmore. 

The Two Gallants are currently on their North American tour, which will continue through October 9^th. The band will be passing through NYC at the Bowery Ballroom and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 24^th and 25^th. You can hear The Bloom and the Blight in its entirety all this week at AOL Music’s Spinner.