[dropcap style=”font-size:100px; color:#992211;”]S[/dropcap]o it appears that TRC are back with… well… a TRC record.
When the video dropped for lead single ‘Moaner’ a few months back it was a decent watch full of self-deprecating jokes about a shite comeback show, soundtracked by the familiar rapped vs yelled vocal interchange and chuggy Hardcore guitar lines.
TRC have always been a decent watch in a live setting – plums out stage presence and a vocal dynamic that really gets crowds going. Clean sounding raps vs a harsh throat you could grit the path with really does the job in a sweaty little venue. It’s always been a bit of a personal struggle to get past the lyrics, though.
One of TRC’s favourite topics is revolution and being revolutionary. To be blunt, they aren’t – musically, it’s straight up, unadventurous, generic Hardcore. On this release, ‘Lifestyle’, the ambient guitar line on ‘London’s Greatest Love Story Part II’ is the only real break away from the chuggedy-chug that makes up the other five and two-thirds tracks. Their other lyrical content stems from personal struggles, violence, and pretty much everything else you’d expect from the bastard child of Hip-Hop and Hardcore. It’s brash and they break the fourth wall every other line to remind us that they’re TRC and the name of the song/EP/etc.
I find myself having to wind my neck in a bit here. This isn’t a brooding, serious project (…fuck me, I hope it isn’t). To be frank, I don’t particularly expect them to care what anyone thinks about the new release. TRC screams of letting a bit of steam off, about a bit of positive aggression and fun – one of the cornerstones of Hardcore culture in a live setting.
Let me clarify; I don’t hate this release at all. Am I going to run through the rain laughing, holding a copy over my head? Nah. Are the BBC going to have sleepless nights thinking about how they’re going to snub this pugilistic nonsense from the charts show when they get to #1? Also no. It’s a TRC EP for TRC fans (who will most certainly enjoy it), a bit of a grower but I can’t see myself digging it out and listening much beyond around when I get tickets to see them . Which I will, because they’re a fun band.
A fun band who’ve managed to take a cool and pretty innovative collision of styles and somehow made it generic.
