Request: Truman & His Trophy - Springinsguth

This band asked me to write something about their album and the least I can say is that I'm not used to review this kind of records. Truman & His Trophy don't play reggae or trance techno, no, but the Chicago act's blend of indie-pop and post-punk is something I don't listen to everyday.

Just like their band and album names, Truman & His Trophy are quite unusual, not to say odd. 'Springinsguth' (pronounced "Spring-inz-gooth", specifies singer/guitarist Chris) sounded really weird to me at first. The keyboard is quite psychedelic, the vocals a bit crazy and the guitars very quirky. The singer's falsetto pushed me away at first and as I'm not a fan of dance beats either, tracks like 'Flower man party' made me want to skip to the next ones. But after a few listens, probably because I needed to get used to their sound, some interesting aspects of the band appeared more clearly. Even if the guitars' tone isn't really the kind I enjoy, I really appreciate the drums on several tracks (the rocking 'Tomato feet') and the instrumentations are sober but add a pleasing touch ('Peach tree'). Tracks like the upbeat The Format-like 'Plain brains' and its pretty chorus featuring discrete handclaps or the good and fast-paced 'Pig necklace' are very enjoyable. Most of the compositions are busy and make me guess the band must be worth seeing live.

Despite a definitely crazy side (the happily-chaotic end of 'Beardy tastes' which closes the record), Truman & His Trophy are not revolutionizing music, but produce an interesting and original light-hearted sound. They dare to try, and it's not that bad. Number of unbearable crappy power-pop bands use the word "fun" as an excuse for their bad music. Well, to me fun music tends to sound more like this.

3/5

Recommanded if you like:
The Format, Weezer, So Many Dynamos
Check also:
Pisces At The Animal Fair, Dr. Manhattan, We Versus The Shark

www.myspace.com/trumanandhistrophy
(Too Many Illinois, 2009)