Goodnight Alchemy,
Trophy ScarsI've said it before, I'll say it again - this band are fucking insane. Throwing in the best bits of a band like Blood Brothers and topping it off with a large helping of The Bled, then mixing it all off with their own unique slant, Trophy Scars are really, really rocking my world right now. There's no method to their madness and no strict song structure. They just fucking hit the spot. And hard.
The band's last self-released EP came out of nowhere and knocked me for six and this is probably even better. Released on The Death Scene, the band do the expected and the unexpected and obliterate everything in their path. Split up into two chapters, the first three songs run into one another seemlessly, and after a swift break the final four roll into one too. It works a treat. The drums are off-kilter, the vocals sound messy, bloody and violent and the guitars scythe through the air like a chainsaw through a tree. 'Jerry's The Name, Sociology's My Game' is the perfect start, while 'Hey Kiddo!' would be the best song The Bled had ever penned, had they got anywhere near it of course.
'Traps and Kicks and Such' takes things to a whole new level again, mixing up spoken word parts with bloodcurdling screams and battering ram riffs. There's even a woman having an orgasm in the background, whooping with delight as the drums get faster and faster and guitar riffs are peeled off with a cocksure attitude that many bands try so desperately to achieve yet fail so miserably. The first section comes to an end with 'Cats As A Measurement of Time' which is slower and more considered at first - guitar lines act atmospherically while the vocals haunt. The explosion doesn't take too long to arrive mind - about 90 seconds to be precise. And when it goes up in flames, it burns. Jerry Jones' vocals will tear a new arsehole, while the guitar riffs shred. 'Dont Fuss Over Spiders Thrown' is pure insanity, while 'Lesson 3' and then 'Lesson 4' are just spiteful blasts of angst-ridden nu-skool hardcore.
I could go on. Trophy Scars are that good, seriously. Inventive, reasonably original and brutal, this is a band that I'm genuinely excited about. And anyone who reads my reviews regularly will know that I'm bored of the same old shit, week in, week out. The same old bands doing the same old things - too scared to fuck shit up because they have to take a risk. While there are influences, Trophy Scars ultimately sound like Trophy Scars - and will no doubt spawn a thousand soundalikes if they're given the chance. A cracking debut 'proper' release, I hope this isn't the last we hear of them.
www.trophyscars.com
The Death Scene
Paul
