Trans Am walks the same line between substance and style that its namesake car model did in its heyday. Often considered the leading light of the ’90s post-rock scene, the Maryland-based trio switches between big, loud rawk riffing and spacey, experimental ambience, sometimes within the same song. Trans Am gleans imagery and sounds from the synth- and vocoder-heavy music of decades past, but also informs its songs with a detached, millennial indie attitude. The group shifts gears from album to album, and this intellectual restlessness continues with the atmospheric, trippy Thing (Thrill Jockey). The LP should appeal both to new-school stoner-metal fans and the hippie oldheads at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where Trans Am will be playing a free show on August 18. Nathan Means will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with the band.
Means: The “night” is often invoked in lyrics as something mystical, romantic, and epic. When Neil Young sings “Tonight’s The Night,” you don’t really know what he means, but it sounds like something worth waiting around for. But while you’d be willing to wait until later on that day to find out what the big deal is, it doesn’t work as well if the extremely exciting event is happening the following evening: “Tomorrow Night’s The Night” doesn’t pack the same punch. Then the song just sounds like Neil is making some sort of boring plans. This is a universal songwriting rule: Try singing these reworked classic lyrics by the Rolling Stones (“Let’s spend tomorrow night together”), the Cars (“Who’s going to drive you home tomorrow night?”) and Phil Collins (“I can feel it coming in the air of tomorrow night/Oh lord”).
Videos after the jump.
