The Trews - Hope & Ruin

The Trews
Hope & Ruin (2011)
(Bumstead Records)

There are a few running themes throughout The Trews’ fourth studio album, Hope & Ruin, such as redemption, heartbreak, crafty vocal arrangements, homage to CCR, roots rock, guitar distortion, familiarity, and when all neatly line up in a music row, they fair well as a soundtrack to gassing up and hitting the blacktop for an extended session of road-therapy.

Canadians Colin MacDonald, John-Angus MacDonald, Sean Dalton, and Jack Syperek find their musical strength in delivering sharp rockers with an edge of pop sense. From the onset of the kickstarter and blaring opening track, “Misery Loves Company”, Hope & Ruin is all rock anthemic, healthily touched with alt-country and blues. The Trews don’t stray far from where they’ve musically been and that’s not necessarily a bad thing; their sonic trajectory makes for a steady emotional montage of “seeing” the music as well as occasionally thrashing to it.

Some of the best moments on the album are polar opposites; see “People Of the Deer” (apparently based upon the Canadian book of the same name), possibly their noisiest song ever, and by ‘noisiest’ I mean their hardest twist of the dial towards a straight-edged rocker with prolific use of a wah-wah pedal, and the twang doesn’t diminish the vocal urgency of “Burned” especially when the guitar starts to peel off into Luther Dickinson territory.  I’m not mad at them because “One By One” is solid and a delicate rhyming scheme (aka poem) set to music and a good reminder of why lyrics do matter; they help when trying to tell a fucking story. “I hate myself for being miserable; a six-day binge is bound to do it, though” isn’t necessarily a pretty mental picture, but it is a knife of honest exploration.

Grand experimentation may have been kept to a minimum on Hope & Ruin, but then why mess with a good thing?

Go see The Trews tonight at The Viper Room.

Official Website | Twitter

Eli James - Pump Up The Jam Tour

If you haven't already heard, High Voltage has joined Eli James on the road this summer. Eli James is the modern one-man band whose taking art & music to the next level as a live drummer/DJ DIY-combo. With his custom LED drum kit, his passion for music and drive to make the people smile, dance and get inspired along the way; Eli will slowly change the average fan's expectations of what should go into a live show with his dedication & onstage animation.


The tour started last night in San Antonio, TX and will be making it's way around the country over the next few weeks. Chelsea will documenting the journey along the way, so make sure to read the On The Road with Chelsea column every so often to see road stories, reviews on music we've discovered along the way, etc. Full tour dates below:

PUMP UP THE JAM TOUR 2011

Date	City	Venue
July 19, 2011	San Antonio, TX	Boneshakers
July 20, 2011	Austin, TX	Beauty Bar
July 21, 2011	Houston, TX	Super Happy Fun Land
July 23, 2011	Birmingham, AL	The Nick
July 27, 2011	Worcester, MA	Lucky Dog Music Hall
July 29, 2011	New York, NY	Pianos
July 31, 2011	Philadelphia, PA	Dockside Bar
Aug 3, 2011	Madison, WI	The Frequency
Aug 5, 2011	St Louis, MO	2720 Cherokee
Aug 6, 2011	Warrensburg, MO	400 Bar
Aug 11, 2011	Denver, CO	Moe's Tavern
Aug 13, 2011	Las Vegas, NV	Artifice Bar
Aug 19, 2011	West Hollywood, CA	Sunset Strip Music Festival
Aug 20, 2011	West Hollywood, CA	Sunset Strip Music Festival

Facebook | Twitter

Mastodon Album... Trailer?

We're all used to movies making trailers to entice us to the theaters on opening weekend, but an album trailer? I wouldn't even think that would work, typically speaking. However the visual treat Mastodon provides in their trailer for upcoming album, The Hunter, featuring a new track entitled "Black Tongue" is up to par with their live shows, branding and other hi-jinx. So for your viewing pleasure...


Official Site | Twitter

New Releases To Look Out For...

Heads up High Voltage fans, there's a lot of new albums coming out this summer. Here's a quick guide to a few we think you should pick up:

1. Louisiana born blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd will be releasing How I Go on August 2nd. Similar to Jonny Lang, KWS started at a young age and barely in his 30s now continues to deliver feel good blues albums.

2. 100 Monkeys are set to release their sophomore album, Liquid Zoo, on June 28th. Judging by the new tunes we've heard live, this album should be a more focused rocker with the same quirkiness present on their debut album, Grape.

3. Indie-rockers The Postelles are blowing us away with their self-titled release set to hit stores on July 5th. Make sure you catch a live show by these guys too!