Trampolene’s debut album seems intent to subvert convention and expectation at every turn.
Start as you mean to go on is such a cliche; Swansea To Hornsey’s start is anything but cliche. Instead, it’s a powerful tool of expectation destruction. A poem that’s equal parts nostalgia and rage.
Trampolene are seemingly looking at the point when life’s tragedies and victories meet. It seems to dominate the record, and nowhere is that better summed up than on Artwork Of Youth, a potent reminder of why music is so important not only for the audience but for the musicians themselves.
And this theme echoes throughout the record. Whether Jack Jones is tearing into something or reflecting on something, it’s invariably the grey areas that form most peoples lives and what makes this record so fascinating.
Imagine Something Yesterday has a Suede style guitar riff and an even similar attitude, only Anderson’s bitterness and bile is given an almost guttersnipe youthful angst. Alcohol Kiss, on the other hand, forgoes the arty pretensions for brute force – they blast through the track, and it’s brilliant.
It’s this dichotomy in the album’s tone that makes it work. For every potent anthem like Dreams So Rich, Life So Poor, you get aching moments like Beautiful Pain and Already Older Than I Dreamed I’d Be. And hidden amongst all this are wonderful bursts of bitterness and reflection such as Ketamine and ‘Pound Land.
The standout moment, however, is You Do Nothing For Me, which is so good it almost hurts. It’s almost anthem by numbers: it’s all here, riff, vocals, shouty chorus, breakdown, solo. But it’s so much more; Trampolene invest the song with an intensity born of sincerity. It’s not angry because it’s loud, it’s loud because it’s angry.
Also, an honourable mention must go out to the sheer size of their brass dangly bits for starting and finishing the album with poems. It’s not that no one would ever do it, it’s simply that you have to have complete confidence in your words as you can’t hide behind anything else. These poems stand tall – warts and all. That’s the point. They are brutalist moments that are intended to make people reflect on moments they would rather not reflect on. And they do this wonderfully.
Which is also reflective of Swansea To Hornsea’s power. It’s a record that doesn’t shy away from anything. Trampolene have something to say, and they are saying it no matter what anyone thinks. It might not be easy to hear, but it’s always exciting.
They have created an honest and compelling reflection on their lives and their futures. Laying bare hopes and desires, and never shying away from what this really says about them or those around them. That’s powerful stuff, and just as importantly it’s also one hell of a listen.
And any record that references Kevin Turvey, to paraphrase Redditch’s greatest investigative reporter, is like a great thing, well not ‘like a great thing’, is a great thing.
Hello, armchair Britain.