Trinovantes – S/T / 2005 Self / 9 Tracks / http://www.trinovantes.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 09 December 2005

Where it feels as if Trinovantes is spinning their wheels for the first few seconds of “Peace By Piece”, a very driving guitar/drum combination found in the middle of the track does a lot to bring the rest of the band on board. The first track is almost destined for the radio but suffers from too many of these “down time” sections that essentially see Trinovantes closing up shop for a few seconds before going back into their hard brand of rock. The lead vocals of Trix does not have a major referent in previous rock music.

One wishes to put eir with Veruca Salt and Letters to Cleo, but the intensity of eir voice during “Travelling” puts eir beyond much of the work released by the previous two artists. It is during a track like “Symmetrical” that Trix’s vocals can be normalized to many of the acts that preceded eir; for example, the vocals on this track have much more to do with acts like LiveOnRelease and even Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) than anything else. The guitar work on “Symmetrical” really is perfect for Trix’s vocals, as they show the exact same type of nuance and carefree sound that is pushed forth with the vocals. This has the added effect of giving listeners a much more full sound; Trinovantes actually sounds like a band here instead of five people simply milling about for thirty minutes. The disc’s strongest foot forward comes with “Ten Years Gone”, a track that has two “sets” of vocals; Trix’s and the shrill guitar, which however roughly approximate another vocal style.

The track feels perfect for radio, and has some nice snowball effects (in terms of dynamic tension) that essentially open themselves to the listener instead of merely going back into the grind of things. There seems to be a worldwide flair to the barely two minutes of “Majestic”; the heavily distorted guitars stop and start where Trix’s vocals have the same sort of tenor and spontaneity that is more applicable to artists like Puffi Ami Yumi and other j-rockers. The catchy chorus by Trix on this track, plus the emotive output of the guitars soon after really seals the book on this track being the best example of Trinovantes on this self-titled album. By all means, pick up this album. It is rock without any of the annoying prefix (modifiers) that necessarily shove it into one box or the other.

Top Tracks: Majestic, Peace By Piece

Rating: 6.5/10

[JMcQ]