Sex Change

Trans Am tend to their primal style

During all ten years of their career the American electro pop rock band Trans Am was constantly trying to modify their approach to music. Having started as a sufficiently serious band interested in the development of their original style based on rock and scrupulously considered electronics blending, Trans Am have been stepping up the professional stairs pretty confidently. However, approximately by the early 2000’s the musicians has turned into ironically tuned pop wags, first recording deliberately simple and at times silly songs and then trying to shift their music in the rock direction, presenting it with a sensible share of irony again. Their recent album Liberation released in 2004 seemed to be an attempt to get back to the band’s primal style: the album presented a full-fledged and politically influenced piece, which looked much more attractive in comparison with the former releases. Now, in 2007 Trans Am decided to stick to the chosen strategy yet keeping the irony at hand thus combining everything they managed to come to during their seven albums history. Their new album Sex Change is a mixture of 80’s spirit, deliberate laconism, techno smack and rock guitars.

Trans Am do not conceal their predilection to Krafwerk

Just like all the Trans Am’s albums Sex Change is an instrumental one. Vocal parties are met only on two tracks here: half dance Obscene Strategies and Climbing Up The Ladder, Pt. 3-4 where the musicians used characteristic for their music sounds of synthesized bass and vocoder. But despite its apparent simplicity the album abound in diverse and interesting little sonic things, which lace into the body of composition so delicately that this original finds may remain unnoticed during the first listen. Thus for example the sounding of electro bass and fairy cosmic keyboards of the aforementioned Obscene Strategies contrast with inclusions of fuzzy guitar but at the same time composition doesn’t sound defragmentized. Just that very accessibility and so to say modesty of music make this album attractive. Unobtrusive beauty of the first composition First Track may serve as a perfect example to this statement. Despite that fact that Trans Am do not conceal their predilection for Kraftwerks creative works - many tracks here evoke associations exactly with this band - they don’t forget about rock music either. Conspiracy Of The Gods is just that very example where the musicians managed to use heavy guitars and hairy rock harmonies and on 4,738 Regrets, for instance, basic elements can be referred to melodic pop rock.

A double effect of inner harmony

A very important quality of Sex Change lies in the musicians’ abilities to find a thin verge of compatibility between all the genres they mix weather it would be pop, disco, electronic, glam or classic rock. These diverse directions sound conflictlessly and submit to a certain integrated basis within every composition. In that respect the band succeeded to achieve a double effect of inner harmony – having their sounding coordinated on the level of songs as well as on the level of the entire album. Sex Change is united with inseparable sonic concept: even when a song is obviously bending in the direction of this or that style it is still remaining in the boarders of that unity. But despite a whole number of advantages Sex Change failed to become something outstanding even though it has all the necessary preconditions. This is a good album but not more than that. It is enjoyable listening but it can’t astonish you. In a way this album became another Trans Am’s step to their primal style but more confident and mature this time out. So if once you have cast Trans Am’s albums in the darkest corner of your closet with no hope to hear something worthy from this band, their new album is quite capable to change your opinion and breath new life into weathered interest.