Customer Reviews

In the Music

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Released in the UK and Japan last year, this cd finally makes its debut stateside with 8 career-spanning bonus acoustic tracks recored live. There is a lot to love here. The opener and first single 'People' is a tremendously catchy bit of pop for fans of The Smiths, Crowded House, Coldplay, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura. Other highlights are 'Prisons' (which doesn't feature Carly Simon as stated in the Amazon track list) 'Should I Pray' (which does), I Wish You'd Met Her' 'Oranges and Apples' (a Syd Barret tribute), and 'The Engine' (perhaps the most beautiful song you'll hear all year). Be sure to catch the band when they tour the States in June. You'll find you have a new favorite band.

The Trashcan Sinatras are back with a CD of new studio material (ten songs) and (in North America) bonus recordings from an acoustic show in the UK. "In The Music" is a great collection of medium tempo songs with interesting, mature lyrics. It's a natural progression from 2004's Weightlifting (that album made several top ten lists that year). You won't find anything as fast as their early 1990's hits "Hayfever" and "Obscurity Knocks," but the music never drags. The lyrics are thoughtful - - and successfully avoid being overly introspective. The arrangements and the recording are polished; the vocalists are in fine form; and I can't think of anything I'd rather be listening to right now.

The North American bonus tracks represent a good overview of some of their best songs. I think they'll whet your appetite for more.

I can't say enough about In The Music. Already released in the UK and Japan, it's about time this album made it across the pond. It's a beautiful, melancholy treasure of an album and you won't be disappointed listening to it on a summer's day, during a long drive, or over a bottle of wine. It's a masterpiece suitable for any occasion.

It has taken several weeks to muster up my review for the new TCS album, IN THE MUSIC. Initially, I feared it wouldn't be very positive, but as with nearly every TCS album, it takes time, patience and hearing, for it to percolate. As a lifelong rabid fan of the Trashcans, I should've known better. But, as with each previous album, the real satisfaction and joy for me comes from finally "getting it". Life, like the Trashcans, is funny that way.

What can I say, I'm a slow learner.

This album, like each of their previous albums, rewards you over time. And that is exactly why I'm a fan...they are always worth the wait.

So now, after listening to this album repeatedly over the last month, it has truly grown on me. This definitely feels like a "peeling back a layer" album for them, sound-wise and lyrically. But it is still a TCS album in every sense. What it may lack in their trademark tongue-in-cheek and verbal wordplay, it makes up for with genuine heart and gorgeous melodies throughout. This is easily the most soulful album they have ever made. From the jangling guitars on "Oranges and Lemons" to the chorus of "I Wish You'd Met Her", this album is something approaching '60s era R&B. It's still pop, it's still British, but it has a groove.

A word about my favorite song, "The Engine": it is phenomenal. It stands out as one of their best tracks in their whole catalog. Certainly, it is the equal in beauty to "Orange Fell" or "Thrupenny Tears" or "A Coda". This song is the highpoint of the album for me and reminds me exactly why I love this band so much.

Anyway, this is a stunning album from a group that truly has found a way to be "in the music" all the way through. Thank god for the Trashcans.

TCS delivers once again. Never doubted it really. They are without a doubt masters of melodic sweet dreamy pop, very much underrated. I've been listening to the entire album for a few months now and I have yet to grow tired of it. (I doubt I ever will!) They're a bit more soulful in this offering and it's breathtaking. A surprise was "I Can't Stand Tomorrow," love it! Instant favorites: "I wish you'd met her" and "In the Music." Fracis Reader's vocals are in top form! Thanks for the beautiful music TCS!

I'll keep it short. If you love Weightlifting, buy this album. Mellow, heartfelt and clever. Classic Trashcans.

C'mon......Let's be honest. Bands like the Trashcan Sinatras should be a household name. Their albums should be available in every store, their songs played on every radio station, their back catalogue discovered and rediscovered by music fans of all ages. But no, we are not living in a perfect world. Corporate commercial hype rules the airwaves. They blind us on TV with their booty shaking, mind numbingly repetitive, boring tunes by talentless pawns to the game known as ( ahem ) the Music Industry. Well......listen up folks who don't want to be sheep ! Here is a beautifully constructed, crafted piece of pure pop magic ( Just like their back catalogue ) that will excite on repeated listenings. Buy it and you might just regain your musical identity ! Thank you the powers that be for the Trashcan Sinatras !

Scotland's Trashcan Sinatras make a take a while between albums, but when they do emerge with another collection of well-crafted guitar pop it's always worth the wait. "In the Music" is a meticulous beauty, that like its predecessors, grows more interesting with each listen. From Francis Readers vocals, to the intertwining guitars of John Douglas and Paul Livingston, the 'Cans weave a sonic quilt unlike any other. This group has cornered the market on melodic pop that drips into your soul, grabs hold and never lets go.

The Trashcan Sinatras, like another of my favorites, The Blue Nile, seem to only release albums once in a blue moon. And like the Manchester band James, the Sinatras have only seemed to improve after an extended absence from the recording scene between "A Happy Pocket" and 2004's "Weightlifting". At first the album didn't seem as instantly catchy as their last "Weightlifting", but after a few listens, I quickly realized that melodically and lyrically this was an album and band that continues to grow by leaps and bounds on each release. One favorite line- "she never loses sleep, she reads between the sheets" sums up how not only clever this band can be but also how profound in its simple observartions about love, life and spirituality. And they write about all of those things brilliantly. Sometimes in the same song. It is such a shame a band this good is not an "indie darling" like Arcade Fire or Broken Social Scene. They just don't seem to care about being that fashionable or hip. Don't miss them live, either. Acoustic or electric, the bands mix of jangly guitar work and warm harmonies is mesmerizing in that setting. I remember seeing them in Houston in late 2010 in a free show to a nearly empty house yet somehow it was magical. And the crowd felt it. The Trash Can Sinatras often get compared to The Smiths, but I think a key difference is that Morissey, as brilliant of a lyricist as he is, is not as willing to write a line like "should I pray?" in a song without just a hint of irony. Frank Reader obviously isn't. Here's hoping for another album from these Scots sooner rather than later.

My title speaks for itself. A must have for the collection. A band that does not get enough air play. Tired of the usual crap on the radio. Play the TRASHCAN SINATRAS and the world will be a better place!