Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Mutations Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
TRAAMS | Brighton Source
TRAAMS | Brighton Source
Reviews

TRAAMS Review

Nov 25, 2015
-
Posted by SOURCE Writers

This feels like an important moment for TRAAMS. Ostensibly an album launch party, tonight heralds the arrival of ‘Modern Dancing’ – album number two, comprised of eleven near-flawless tracks of rapturous post-punk. But if it’s a celebration, it’s not immediately obvious.

Anybody expecting genial between-song repartee tonight will be disappointed. Similarly, anyone harbouring the notion that a band owes their audience a ‘performance’ will be left wanting. With heads down in concentration for most of the set, TRAAMS’ refusal to engage with anything other than the job at hand is a welcome antidote to style-over-substance rock-star posturing.

If the overarching mood of 2013’s ‘Grin’ was characterised by low-level angst and a nagging existential malaise then ‘Modern Dancing’, as the name might suggest, is a notably happier outing, tracing vocalist Stuart Hopkins’ journey from quotidian, 20-something ennui to a more optimistic and benevolent place.

If this sounds like cause for concern, rest assured, it’s not an artistic volte-face that will leave fans out in the cold. There’s still enough general disquiet to go around. “You’re not my friends” goes the refrain from ‘Succulent Thunder Anthem’, whilst ‘Silver Lining’ asks the titular question: “How long ‘til the silver lining? I keep crying out, but it don’t look likely.” Incidentally, both songs are high points of tonight’s set.

There’s a smattering of tracks from the debut record, but tonight is really about the new album and it’s clear from the energy on stage that the band have lost no love for their new material during recording (sessions that saw the band temporarily relocate to Leeds to record with Hookworms polymath MJ).

TRAAMS’s best trick remains their ability to cast spells over their audience with hypnotic, motorik rhythms, throbbing pulses more redolent of electronic music than anything else. It’s a tough trick to pull off for a guitar band, and it only works because in Leigh Padley and Adam Stock TRAAMS have a rhythm-section so in-sync it’s borderline paranormal.

The energy in the crowd has been simmering steadily and by the time we get to the leviathan coda of ‘Klaus’ it’s spilling over everywhere; down by the barriers bodies collide, a communion of spilt drinks and wayward limbs.

It‘s neither hyperbole nor local-lads-come-good favouritism when we say that in 2015 TRAAMS are easily one of the most exciting bands around. With their sophomore album establishing them as such, and a comfortable transition to bigger venues under the belt, it would seem their new found optimism is pretty well placed.

TRAAMS, Patterns, Thursday 19th November 2015
Words by Liam McCreesh

Nov 25, 2015
Email
SOURCE Writers
Sometimes an article is a bit of a team effort, and those are tagged SOURCE Writers. If you’d like to be part of that team, hit the Contact link at the top and get your work on this website.
← PREVIOUS POST
Alternative Christmas Light Switch-On
NEXT POST →
Man Ray Sky Review
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts Review
    Oct 21, 2025

    Expectations are high with a new Inspector Morse story on stage, sadly this is more a ghost of a Morse story, although die hard fans might enjoy it for the nostalgia.

  • The Lovely Eggs Interview
    Oct 15, 2025

    The Lovely Eggs tell us about their 20th anniversary, the new album and tour with Polite Bureax and some comedy legends supporting.

  • Ocean Film Festival Review 2025
    Oct 11, 2025

    A selection of beautifully shot short films covering diverse ocean lovers' passion for interacting with the sea.

  • Fractured Album Launch, Saturday 20th December
    Oct 10, 2025

    Fractured celebrate the release of their new album supported by Amelia And The Housewives.

  • 2:22 A Ghost Story Review
    Oct 7, 2025

    An evening of two couples having dinner together has never before been so gripping and enthralling, filled with tension, with the ultimate question: is their new house haunted or not?

  • Richard Hawley Review
    Oct 5, 2025

    As Coles Corner turns 20, Richard Hawley dazzled and delighted an up-for-it Worthing crowd with a 2 hour-plus set.

  • Brighton Psych Fest 2025 Review
    Sep 26, 2025

    The second Brighton Psych Fest was a beauty as we got down with Getdown Services as the evening sunlight glowed through the Concorde Stained Glass.

  • David Devant & His Spirit Wife, Friday 12th December
    Sep 23, 2025

    One of Brighton's greatest live bands returns for a pre-Xmas homecoming party.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2023
TRAAMS Review - Brighton Source