★★★★
Trust Punks hail from New Zealand, though their sound has more in common with the post-punk sounds from Britain in the late ’70s than the ‘Dunedin Sound’ that Kiwi bands are inevitably always compared to.
Double Bind is the group’s second album, steeped in jarring, angular tones, dissonant vocal melodies and plenty of grit. If not for the metallic sheen draped over the record’s production, you could compare Trust Punks to acts like Fugazi or Slint. But these guys aren’t so derivative, and there’s plenty of originality packed into the 11 songs.
‘Paradise/Angel-Wire’ opens with an eerie ringing of guitar feedback before launching into a sonic assault against Australia’s treatment of refugees. Things get a little more upbeat on ‘Good Luck With That’, a pacey pop song that leans heavy on the drums. From here, the album becomes much more introspective. ‘The Reservoir’ is a painful lament with a powerful refrain, and the demented ‘Leaving Room For The Lord’ is the heaviest track on the album, a mashing of harrowing guitars leading into a brooding middle section.
Double Bind is a finely executed album – it has plenty of ideas, instantly digestible post-punk anthems, and most importantly, gives the audience something to think about.
Trust Punks’Double Bindis out now through Spunk.
