After 24 years and 10 albums, we’re still trying to figure out Trans Am. A statement of misguided complication or exaggeration? Maybe. But the trio—guitarist Phil Manley, bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Nathan Means, drummer Sebastian Thomson—hasn’t exactly made comprehension easy considering its non-linear progression, lack of canned press statements and refusal to submit to expectation. Trans Am’s throw-at-a-dartboard-and-see-what-sticks approach notwithstanding, the band finds itself with a 10th album in its laps. Volume X (Thrill Jockey) leans toward the streamlined sensibility of 2007’s Sex Change, snidely and playfully existing somewhere between krautrock, post-rock, electro-rock, punk rock and other prefix-rock. Trans Am will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on them.
Manley: I’ve lived in San Francisco for just more than 10 years now. When I moved here, it was a huge improvement to Washington, D.C., which is where I’d been living for the previous 10 years. Quality of living in D.C. seemed to be going down hill. The city was being flooded with George W’s lackeys. Lots of SUVs with Texas tags. The influx of jar-headed douche bags was palpable. Prospectors/developers were spotted wandering in neighborhoods that were previously only occupied by transgender prostitutes. The city was ripe for the taking. When I go back to D.C., I don’t recognize it. I have zero remorse for leaving. No nostalgia. Not even an ounce. All my friends and family have bailed, too, so there’s not even that reason to go back. The soul of D.C. left when the Redskins moved out of RFK. Period.
I hate to admit this, but I’ve noticed the same thing that happened to D.C. is now happening in S.F. This is not news to anyone, I realize. I’ve been ignoring the current tech boom by with a calculated blind eye—trying to stay positive despite all the reports of evictions and skyrocketing rent. I kept telling myself, “We’re safe in our rent-controlled apartment.” Well, we just got news that our landlord is planning on selling our house. He wants to sell the house, sight unseen, for $1.6 million in cash to, as he put it, “a rich Chinese person.” And he’ll probably get more than his insane asking price. He also has no plans to buy us out, so the “rich Chinese person” will also be buying a eviction lawsuit.
One day, when the tech industry is no longer cutting edge and investors turn off the money hose, San Francisco will begin to go back to nature, like Detroit. Oh, and the 49ers just moved out of Candlestick to Santa Clara.
