Thursday, March 3, 2011

Trax: Home EP

The UK during the late 70s and early 80s may have been the epicenter of the single greatest era of music - if not of all time, then at least of our generation (although I suppose it also depends on the type of music you're interested in). The sheer amount of records released at the time - from the private pressings recorded in ramshackle studios at 3 AM for the price of a case of Top Ramen, to the commercially risky records that even the major labels were putting out - means that there will always be another classic unearthed on pretty much a weekly basis. Consider this the classic of this week!
This band, called Trax, hailed from the town of Dunfermline, Scotland, and released this single on their Lonely Records label in 1979. It's not the greatest-quality recording, remaining a tad murky, especially on the second side on which the band bravely attempts to cram nearly eight minutes of music. It combines the energetic energy and guitars of garage punk with the atmospherics and synths of the post punk and burgeoning goth scene, sounding like a mix of The Stranglers, The Skids, and Joy Division. The closing track, Late Nite call Out, is my favorite, where garage and darkwave elements collide in a glorious lo-fi mess.
The band did not release any other records, although they did write almost 40 different songs and may have recorded a few demo tapes before disbanding in 1980. This record shows quite a bit of potential, and if their budget for this recording was only slightly more than the cost of a single meal of fish and chips, it would probably sound quite excellent.

Trax: Home EP
1979, Lonely Records
A1: Home
B1: Losing Out
B2: Late Nite Call-Out

4 comments:

Ghoulz said...

Chuffed to find this blog.

I was their No 1 fan cum roadie cum lighting / sound engineer cum archivist. We had a nostalgic reunion meal / drink to celebrate 30 years since the release of the single with Neill Martin / Derek Armstrong / Tony Taylor and myself in Edinburgh in 2009.

More info here: http://www.kinemagigz.com/'t'.htm#Trax

Read more: http://shotgunsolution.blogspot.com/2011/04/trax-home-ep.html#ixzz1KHXqtURy

Flashlight Vagina said...

This won't succeed in reality, that is exactly what I think.

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