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Trauma
Solidarity
2004, Strikefirst Records
While some would call Trauma a maddeningly inconsistent band, others won‘t mind the sudden shifts of style that sometimes seem jumbled together to create songs - and still others will cheer the random nature of the band‘s debut EP. There are six tracks here, ranging in influence from Bleeding Through to Zao to Remembering Never, and though the overall effect is a little above average, nothing spectacular is going on. Opener ‘Birds Have Wings And So Do Angels‘ starts out with much promise; a jarring intro leads into a catchy verse - and the bridge riff is pretty sick. But as so often happens, the singing takes hold of the chorus - Trauma, like so many others, are better when brutal. The same affliction hampers an otherwise decent, keyboard-festooned song called ‘A Room With No Shutters‘; it‘s like the virus that infected Sinai Beach‘s latest album has spread. ‘Eye Candy‘ brings the thunderous, breakdowns-everywhere ruckus of Remembering Never crossed with Sinai Beach‘s old material, incorporating spoken-word measures to keep things interesting. ‘Scissors For Hands‘ again features Bleeding Through-ish synthesizers matched with more spoken-word vocals; this song in particular encapsulates the quirky guitar style this EP brings: jangly, shambling lines that suddenly give way to crushing chordage. ‘Insomniac Trauma‘ is a nice little instrumental interlude that does a nice job setting up the last song, ‘ Wake Up Before You Die‘, where the singing vocals do find their place, along with Carol Heller‘s female voice to offset the heaviness; Heller‘s dulcet tones remind me of the girl who fronted Spark Lights the Friction years ago, whatever her name was. Overall, this little teaser shows promise; Trauma need merely to pick a solid direction to head in. We‘ll be listening.
- Mike Postma
Copyright ©2005