Back in the mid-90s, Simon Reynolds began to define the then new genre of post-rock as music made by bands using rock instruments in non-rock ways. Trans Am was one of the bands at the time that fit this definition. And while the idea of post-rock has degenerated into pastel washes of rise and fall using polite guitar distortion and piles of reverb, Trans Am have trod their own path, often heading into very rock terrain (enabling them to support the likes of Tool), but maintaining excitement and adventure in their work. Thing is a prime example of pushing traditions right through the envelope.
While there are dominant electronic elements to the tracks on Thing, big, blobby analogue bass burbles being the most obvious, what ties the music most to electronic traditions is the dynamic, in this case generally repetitive grooves with little harmonic deviation, following the kinds of structures of minimal techno, without actually being anything like it sonically. The drums, guitar and bass, which share equal billing with the synths and sequencers, are rock, of the big, bombastic variety. ‘Naked Singularity’ rides a taught 5/4 groove, pushing the synth claps on and off the beat each alternate bar. ‘Bad Vibes’ sees distorted bass synth ride under a double kick pedal driven drum pound which adds one extra beat every 4th bar just to keep you on your toes, before devolving into bit crush. ‘Heaven’s Gate’ is the big finale that every beer-worthy rock band concludes their final song in concert with – arrhythmic drum grandiosity, histrionic guitar noodling, slides up and down the bass guitar neck – except that it’s actually the content of the entire song, stretched out for 5 minutes before morphing into an ever slowing groove which dissolves into analogue synth drone. ‘Apparent Horizon’ adds vocoder to one of the few vocals on the album, a track that approaches a regular song structure.
Thing was originally conceived as a soundtrack to a sci-fi version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and this can be heard in the numerous brief interludes, such as the synth whines of the title track or the doom-drone of ‘Maximum Yield’. The film was aborted but the music was, thankfully, seen through to completion. What is most impressive about the album, consistent with much of Trans Am’s career, is that, in spite of glimpses into advanced technical skill, all the musicianship on the album is laid in the service of the actual music. Solos, as such, do not exist. Layers of repetition, simple but accumulatively massive, puncture you into submission. And this is where Trans Am demonstrate their ‘post-rock’ roots, rock instruments making non-rock music, when it was an exciting and difficult to define new territory. If only those that have followed in their wake could live up to the standards that Trans Am still set for themselves.
Adrian Elmer
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