Trojan Horse
Out February 2011
Rating: 4.5/5
There is really only one word that can truly describe this record: bold. Long would probably be easier, but then again that wouldn't in any way do justice to the sheer audacity of a (relatively) young band making this their debut release, even if it has been three years in the making. If that weren't enough, they brazenly describe themselves as 'Prog Nouveau', at a time where, Kscope Records fanbase aside, prog has never been more uncool.
With music like this at your fingertips though, who needs to be cool? From the demented pirate breakdown in 'Mr Engels Says' to the dinner-music feel of '...and the Lights Went Down' (probably my favourite cut), Trojan Horse keep shifting the mood, feel, style and genre seemingly every minute, or at the very least whenever it suits them. It's gloriously self-indulgent, at turns witty or coarse, heavy or dreamy, and I honestly can't remember when I heard quite so bipolar a record. In short, it's bloody brilliant.
I could go through track by track and analyse it to death, but I've been listening to this album all day and I'm still having difficulty making head or tail of it. As a result, my conclusion is that you should just go out, get a copy and decide for yourself. Somewhere, buried between 3:21 and 3:56 of a track you'll find, however fleetingly, something that blows your mind; it's inevitable, because there is everything you could ever want jammed in here somewhere, if only you have the patience to find it.
As long as artists are prepared to go out on limbs like the one that Trojan Horse are straddling, you've got to conclude that in spite of downloading, falling sales et al, rock n' roll has never been in better shape.
With music like this at your fingertips though, who needs to be cool? From the demented pirate breakdown in 'Mr Engels Says' to the dinner-music feel of '...and the Lights Went Down' (probably my favourite cut), Trojan Horse keep shifting the mood, feel, style and genre seemingly every minute, or at the very least whenever it suits them. It's gloriously self-indulgent, at turns witty or coarse, heavy or dreamy, and I honestly can't remember when I heard quite so bipolar a record. In short, it's bloody brilliant.
I could go through track by track and analyse it to death, but I've been listening to this album all day and I'm still having difficulty making head or tail of it. As a result, my conclusion is that you should just go out, get a copy and decide for yourself. Somewhere, buried between 3:21 and 3:56 of a track you'll find, however fleetingly, something that blows your mind; it's inevitable, because there is everything you could ever want jammed in here somewhere, if only you have the patience to find it.
As long as artists are prepared to go out on limbs like the one that Trojan Horse are straddling, you've got to conclude that in spite of downloading, falling sales et al, rock n' roll has never been in better shape.
No comments:
Post a Comment