New York – Jangly rock garage kraut trio TRAAMS recently released their debut album, Grin, on Fat Cat, and I’ve been bouncing around to it ever since. This full length is full of the result of vocalist/guitarist Stu Hopkins, bassist Leigh Padley, and drummer Adam Stock coming together as a means of escape from their small town of Chichester, West Sussex. As a result of that impetus and their shared appreciation for bands like Abe Vigoda, Pavement, and Television, the music is forward moving, pushing pop leanings with a dancey bounce and upbeat melodies into more aggressive spazz rock noise.
Stu’s vocals are very loose and malleable, draping themselves over the tight riffs and drumbeat and slam dancing around in its room to move, taking all the space it needs. The music oscillates between the game of sonic Pong and a down and dirty psych drone. Right away at the start, the album begins with the dirge, feeling like TRAAMS is building to something big. As soon as the bass chords start changing, we’re moving. Throughout the album the band does well to intermingle both styles to keep it fresh, mellow you out, and pick you back up.
Latest single “Flowers” is a total jam, right from the get go. From the driving bass to the delayed guitar note bending, it’s got all the material to make you dance so hard you spill your drink. Both “Fibbist” and “Reds” are back to back great garage rock from the past, hard hitting like the best alt rock bands in the 90s heyday, but not nostalgic – these are forward thinking riffs with a buoyant bass beat and laughing lyrics. Title track “Grin” has this tribal beat with a wandering guitar line, then Stu’s vocals come in like a call to attention with melodic yelling chants. When it really picks up though, is when the bass kicks and the drums are turned up. Now we’re really moving, all aboard.
Where the album loses momentum is on “Hands,” when the vocals are a little too clear and unaffected. The whole thing just slows down in general, but it’s also songs like this that serve as what can often be a break from high intensity and a way to catch the band’s breath during live shows. As long as they punch it again right after.
The two long wandering tunes, “Head Roll” and Klaus,” which both reach the seven minute mark, are the ones that really push towards sonically expansive psychedelia.
The former is quite conducive for a late night ride through the woods, and the latter one of those tracks to get deeply lost in. It builds up the way a good jam should, gradually becomes so repetitive it sucks you into looping madness, and then just leaves you abruptly, bewildered and disoriented on an empty corner.
The charm on this album is the uncertainty of what could happen next in a song, like in the chaotic “Sleep” that boasts a pretty sweet guitar solo, or “Loose,” which is interestingly titled, as musically it’s very together. Vocals follow guitar line on the chorus exactly – or maybe it’s the other way around, with fills in-between. The unpredictability is what makes this a great album to put on, get pumped up, and get wild to, because it’s a good bet a freak out is coming up in there somewhere. Just don’t get too lost on that empty corner.
