Trapped Instinct

Alarm (BMG)
by Jeff Fritz

If you remixed the Chili Peppers’ first album and added a DJ for tons of scratch and funky samples and then replaced Anthony with Faith No More’s Mike Patton on vocals, you’d end up with something that sounded very much like Trapped Instinct. I’m not saying that this band is unoriginal or that Alarm isn’t a good disc (‘cuz I really do like it), I’m only pointing out that their sound is easily pigeonholed and their influences are readily apparent. What’s that old saying about imitation/innovation? I forget. Anyway, my point is that there’s a lot of talent here to be heard. It’s a small matter that it may sound a bit like this band or that one. The large matter is that it sounds as if the members of Trapped Instinct mean what they play; therefore, what they play will likely evolve into something better with every successive release.