Trans Am
The Surveillance (Thrill Jockey)
by Bob Ham
It’s interesting to me just how prolific instrumental music in the indie/underground scene has gotten. Before it was mainly the emo-core sounds of either angry kids jumping around the stage to off-kilter, quick tempo-changing guitar attacks, or sad white boys decrying their broken hearts and expending only enough energy to push down the distortion pedal that dominated the scene. Now we’re hearing more from groups like Coctails and Tortoise who push the music to the forefront without even thinking about the lyrics, pushing the sounds eerily close to background music (not that I feel so, being a fan of both groups, but others I’ve talked to have referred to them as such). Obviously, they would rather you sit up and pay attention and try to glean as much as you can out of the songs, but with their mellow sounds, you get lulled into stasis and your mind goes elsewhere. This is not the case with the Maryland trio, Trans Am. This group grabs you by the lapels and demands your attention. The first 20 seconds of “Armed Response” is solely a high-pitched tone that’ll send every dog in listening range running scared, but it kicks in with an aggressive beat and some muscle-bound guitar work that catches you off-guard like a boot to the temple. Now that they’ve got your attention, the bands starts laying on other grooves, straight into 
the next track, using electronics and a processed drum beat that keeps your synapses popping off and puts a slight sway in your hips. But on track three, it’s right back to the heavy guitar, bass, and drum attack. These gents are no slouches, they’re obviously willing to try anything, and know how to keep their songs interesting at all times (they also tend to keep them short and sweet so you’re not faced with some trying 12-minute guitar workout). If this is the sort of stuff we’re going to be graced with if more instrumental music keeps hitting the record shelves, I say this new trend is going to be a beautiful thing.
(PO Box 08038 Chicago, IL 60608)
