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TRANS AM
Red Line
Thrill Jockey Records
www.thrilljockey.com
Trying to pin down The Trans Am Sound is nearly impossible, like trying to pin down the real first day of winter. While last year's William S. Burroughs-meets-Tron album, Futureworld, was chillingly stark and decidedly not in favor of the future, especially a future where there's "no future boy...no future girl," the 72-minute "Red Line" is a stark production that goes way off in the other direction-into the world of sleazy jazz clubs and street-budget porno sets. Perhaps the band itself presents its sexy new agenda best in the nail-you-on-the-floor tense ambient layers of "Where Do You Want To Fuck Today?" or even between the lines of the straight-out '80s rock of "Ragged Agenda," where the vocalist sounds like he's muttering something about "ripping out seams" over and over and over under his breath. The early-techno aspect of Trans Am that endeared them to audiences previously is still there-it's just mixed in with everything from garage rock to Jesus and Mary Chain guitar drones to radio-friendly (their words, not mine) pop songs. Somehow, though, even with all the contrasting, schizophrenic elements presented here, the album feels like one big seamless epic-nothing seems even slightly out of place. Holly Day |
