Silver pants aside, Trans Am’s music (the early stuff in particular) carved an original and challenging sound from the get-go……the band somehow merged punkish sensibilities with electronic soundscapes with unexpected chops, and the result was a unique, forward-thinking stylistic adventure.

But it’s hard to accurately analyze these guys based on just one album; they’ve been around for so long now that it seems essential to note the various shifts and phases their sound has gone through. From the polished freight train self-titled debut powerhouse to the stripped-down might of The Surveillance to the dynamic ebb-and-flow of Surrender to the Night to the electroclash assault of Red Line to the vocoder-iffic travels of Futureworld and beyond…..Trans Am’s sound has (or had, up til a couple albums ago) consistently evolved leaps and bounds with each offering, a trait I for one almost always value in and of itself.

Some of you may disagree, but I personally think that the band’s recent efforts have fallen a bit short given the incredible foundation they had established. I guess we’re all entitled to our opinions, even if they’re wrong.

TRANS AM — “Ballbados” from Trans Am (1996)

TRANS AM — “American Kooter” from Trans Am (1996)

TRANS AM — “Love Commander” from Surrender to the Night (1997)

TRANS AM — “Carboforce” from Surrender to the Night (1997)

TRANS AM — “Surrender to the Night” from Surrender to the Night (1997)

TRANS AM — “Armed Response” from The Surveillance (1998)

TRANS AM – “Futureworld” from Futureworld (1999)

TRANS AM – “Cocaine Computer” from Futureworld (1999)

TRANS AM — “I Want it All” from Red Line (2000)

TRANS AM — “Village in Bubbles” from Red Line (2000)

TRANS AM – “Play in the Summer” from Red Line (2000)

-KW

From time to time in the past we’ve exchanged e-mails with The Austerity Program‘s Justin Foley, and the dude’s e-mails were so goddamn funny (not to mention smart) that we finally asked him to write for us. Hopefully Justin’s contributions to MetalSucks will become a regular, or at least semi-regular, occurrence. Enjoy!

MORE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT BAD VILLAGE VOICE THING. I KNOW, IT’S BEST TO IGNORE THESE THINGS BUT I JUST CAN’T THIS TIME.

“O Confusion! Cruel mistress – thou who would lead thine servants to slaughter like a lamb also gets led (Ed – to slaughter). Cruel! Innocent lambs, gently editing metal blogs, knowing not of your unkind plans nor the wicked scroll of fate.” Henry VI, Act 4

Like many of you jokers, I was struck with a growing sadness as I read the nonsense that that nice Wingerschmidt boy posted the other day. Sadness because it really missed the main point about the Voice’s article –a refreshingly pure distillation of concentrated bullshit. Fortunately, I didn’t miss it and neither did many of those who commented. But just in case there’s any doubt, let me tell you why that Voice writer has it so, so wrong.

Click to read more…

Now I’m not saying I agree with all, most, or even any of the points made in Stewert Voegtlin’s recent bitter-tastic Village Voice article (aptly entitled “Sketchy Metal”), but holy jeez a voice of dissension should be appreciated, welcome, and even necessary at times, especially when certain bands are so blindly revered by so many…..and furthermore anybody who can bring such a well-worded subtly sardonic taste to their Hateology (free album title!) a la our own Gary Suarez deserves a complimentary bong hit.

The article starts out with an analysis on Pelican’s sound (or lack thereof), positing that the Chicago band’s thang never crystallizes into anything approaching authentic emotion, but that some bands that Pelican derives influence from (Trans Am, in particular) have made plenty of music worth veneration, especially back in the day.  Hmm……agreed.

I almost joined the Train of Descent (free band name!) recently myself when I was considering writing an article — which was to be called MASTODON EVOLVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THEIR SOUND ON CRACK THE SKYE….EXCEPT FOR THE LYRICS – about the many cliches held within several of the lyrics on Crack the Skye. However, after listening to the album a few more times to get a clearer context of the lyrics to the piece as a whole, I cleaned my shorts off and reconsidered libeling the best modern progressive metal band of the decade.

But Voegtlin? This guy ain’t takin no prisoners (pls disregard double negative)……my favorite gem of haterade enclosed within the article definitely has to be Voegtlin’s response to Baroness’ John Baizley’s claim that his band’s music is influenced by “fine art, cinema, and literature”:

[This is] as stiltedly silly as name-dropping higher mathematics, physics, or philosophy, when what the band really peddles is exactly the everything-and-nothing Hallmark heft so many claim to uncover in Pelican’s wordless, aimless songs. While Baizely’s predilection to hawk such High Times erudition makes him sound more puerile than he likely is, it’s difficult to imagine him honestly striving to disseminate meta-emotional discourse through music as transparently commercial as his band’s stoner-metal-meets-Ford-truck-jingle approach.

Yowza!!

More insightful dissin’ and the link to the actual article afterthejump.

Click to read more…