Customer Reviews

Futureworld

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It is interesting how different people can pick up different things from the same music. I had long been a fan of surrender to the night, trans am's second record, when this one came out. It followed the somewhat lackluster album the surveillance (which nevertheless has four very good songs on it); and I would say that Futureworld is possibly the epitome of Trans Am's brand of "post-rock" (whatever that term means now). Previous reviews mentioned Kraftwerk, and certainly that is a point of reference. And for the first time, the members of Trans Am actually (gasp) sing on an album. At first this prospect distressed me, but now the lyrics fit right along with Trans Am's unabashed stadium rock vs keyboards fixation. This all comes together to create an album that, for me at least, is far from depressing; rather, I find it a cheerful and energetic album. There's a lot to like here: Trans Am have a certain sense of humor that is missing from many "serious" modern bands in the same vein, and they know how to find a fine balance between piledriving (see city in flames, portions of the title track) and downright pretty (sad and young, runners standing still). I love this record, so the negative reviews are confusing; but certainly everyone has the right to their opinion.

Somewhat of a cult phenomenon, Trans Am has built up a loyal following over the last ten years. Considered by some to be a posterchild for "post rock", that simple two world title does not even come close to describing the unique sound Trans Am has created.

A bend of electronica, minimalist punk rock, and lavish late 70's art rock, Trans Am creates a sound that defies casual description. Wavering between atonal noise rock and fist pumping arena rock, Trans Am seems to thrive on challenging, pummeling, and fooling the audience.

The title track begins with the sampled sound of a DC Metro train, that seemlessly segways into a drum and keyboard dance beat. This is then followed by vocals fed through a vocoder, making the lead singer sound like a robot.

If that description grabs your attention, then buy this album. You wont be disappointed.

On this album, they really bring together their punk energy and noise/synth experimentation (with some good social commentary to boot). When I first saw them play, they played "Future World" with two bass guitars and synths, and in six minutes laid out the foundation for the genre--unapologetic rock with cheesy accessories and a minimalist philosophy.

I really have no idea why this album is reviewed as poor or even mediocre. I think it is so much better that that. Maybe for all of those elitists out there that wanted the album more to their specifications think it's horrible but at least give this masterpiece a chance. Hopefully Trans Am will come to the dreary Boise, Id.

In fact, the more I listen to it the more I appreciate it. Trans am once again fuses different styles with ease. The marriage of a kraftwerklike influence and heavy metal riffs may seem confusing at first but don't be afraid of it. Its pretty darn good, especially television eyes and futureworld. Both those songs alone made it worth buying. The second half of the disc is nothing short of sublime. If you like to be challenged musically than once again, Trans am stands up to the challenge.

Mr James Murphy, later of LCD Soundsystem. Listen to the drums, same sound. Organic, open, it feels live, you can hear the room and the performance even if it is electronic based. This record is a very underrated album. A hybrid of synth and rock in an in between phase.

all i have to say is that i started listening to trans am with this one, so i can understand if some trans am fans from the first album onwards cuss at the fact that they went totally 80's. they started out as an incredible post rock instrumental band, great from the start and then they went synth-ish, retro, and much more experimental...they started using the vocoder, which in my opinion is the only real robot sounding voice one can make...this one is no exception at all. the music sort of shifts from new wave dance to post rock metallic jump in the air anthems...i absolutely love this album and would recommend it to anyone who likes originality in a world dominated by mediocrity and lack of rockability...

"Surrender to the night" was the first thing I heard from Trans Am, which is a brilliant piece of work. "Surveillance" just didn't hold up in my opinion, sounding too DIY for its own good. "Futureworld" brings everything back around and is probably Trans Am's best work to date. It's well produced, greatly arranged and maintains a sense of humor throughout, something that rarely crops up whatsoever in the post-rock genre. The first track's freeform sax line doesn't really prepare you for the first vocal line on track 2. Can you say vocoder? Good, because even if you can't, Trans Am gives you more than enough. It's hardly surprising that their first foray into vocals is as far removed from traditional singing as possible. Sort of like 1984 as viewed on a TRS-80, "Futureworld" is a dated masterpiece simultaneously behind and ahead of its time.

They are so damned good. Lord, I know I try to play that rockmusic. But Lord, when you sent those three boys from Maryland to the local music hall to witness to us sinners, it was like an altar call before the apocalypse. It was as though they were saying, "Listen up, all ye fallen, we are here to synthesize and prophesize. Now dance!; I like the accessibility. I don't like the elitists. I like the zapatistas. No frijoles refritos...also...check out their first album...check out "Who do you think we are"(they sold them in Australia while on tour for travelin' moneys.) I've seen them play live 5 or 6 times. Seeing them live helps us make sense of the ill stuff they be layin' down. Don't bother w/anything. Just let the love vibes penetrate you. Also, if you get a chance, try giving up smoking. It's good for you.

Thanks,

I'm disposable.

Trans Am's decision to include vocals on their new album was not necessarily well-advised; their lyrics, or what can be discerned of them through all the electronic gizmos, lack a certain specificity. The imagery seems bleak without explanation: "no future love/future boy/future girl/no future in the futureworld." Why? And what's so terrible about the space this habitue of modernity inhabits? Why are the fax machine and telephone so disturbing?

But then, let's admit it: we know exactly what Trans Am are trying to invoke, just as we know that they lack the verbal dexterity and cognitive force to do so properly. And we know why that vacuum, where a cold metallic preponderance of machines replaces the presence of other people, and where we find ourselves replacing real relations with objects of various kinds, consuming away in response to neverending advertisement, and so on and so forth, can seem especially lonely, especially disconnected and frightening. We know this because Trans Am's futureworld is really an aspect of the modernworld.

Trans Am are trying to convey the sterility and despair that, in some people's view, inheres in the post-industrial world and mindset; they fail to do so with any real coherence and concreteness of reference, but they evoke it nonetheless, with all the inchoate force of adolescent weltschmerz. "Sad and Young," as a title, even seems to indicate that the band recognizes the youthful banality of the record's perspective on the age of digital reproduction. So yes, it lacks rigorous theory, but no, it is not entirely without foundation.

Lyrical weaknesses are one thing. Music is another--- and insofar as I consider "Futureworld" for its musical content, I don't much understand people's gripes (see other reviews). Yes, "City in Flames" is a repulsive melange of keyboard noodling and Slayer guitar, a truly atrocious piece of crap. And certainly the distorto sax pyrotechnics of "1999" are gratuitous and superfluous and a little to close to Yngwie Malmsteen for my comfort (indeed, since the Stooges' "1969" opened their debut with such force, we expect more vavoom from the modern-day equivalent). But then we are left with the likes of "Television Eyes" and "Futureworld" and "Am Rhein," which offer an explosive combination of New Wave synth, electronica, and live rock music, stitched together with a rhythmic eccentricity that evokes Shellac on the one hand and German techno on the other, and which emerges sounding as fresh and icy-cold and robotic as their lyrics aren't.

The second half of the album, meanwhile, has a more atmospheric trip-hoppy mood. It abandons the harshness of the first half, but does not lack for texture and rhythmic invention. At its worst it is pleasant; at its best, it is hypnotic.

In general, then, "Futureworld" is an album full of pulsing music, great to drive to and noble in its sociopolitical aspirations, even if lacking lyrical cogency. And putting the gloomy, somewhat inept bedroom verse aside, the real futurism of the album--- its bizarre and forceful recombination of rock and post-rock elements into an unfamiliar and arresting hybrid--- is anything but bleak. Rather, when the band mixes its elements together with the proper care, its futuristic newness can be something like transcendent.