Royal Trux
Veterans Of Disorder

The Royal Trux (Jennifer Herrema, Neil Hagerty) were undoubtedly one of the most important musical groups of the '90s.

Their strength was in effectively reassessing the rock of the '60s and '70s, always maintaining that rough and unconventional approach that differentiates a "real rock band" from those constructed in a boardroom. With “Twin Infinitives,” they created a new musical syntax, taking to the extreme the insights of groups like Pere Ubu and Sonic Youth.

Almost ten years after their masterpiece, they released “Veterans of Disorder” (Drag City, 1999), an album that shows a return to a taste for deconstruction, after the “trilogy of celebration” (in which they revisited, always from their perspective, the fundamental decades of rock music). Starting always with the Stones and Hendrix, here they make a certain return to chaos (as they themselves admitted), perceiving more than once that beefheartian asymmetry typical of their sound, especially in the second part of the album: “Lunch Money” is an example of their skewed rock’n’roll, with some of the most bizarre percussion in their field. “Sickazz Dog” is probably the most rarefied piece since 'Twin Infinitives', in a collage of sounds that retraces the most treacherous territories of “(Edge of the) Ape Oven.”

Another characteristic of the duo is not excessively caring about the technical aspect, both in terms of music and production; not because they don’t know how to play (something they have demonstrated on other occasions), but always to maintain that authenticity they probably claim instinctively. Their rock is thoughtful, but their thinking still comes from the lower depths of drug addiction (it’s no secret that the two have used heroin in the past). “!Yo Se!,” trampled by a funky drum, is the most carefree track of the album, nevertheless reaffirming a certain obsessiveness in the use of the guitar. With “Coming Out Party,” they return to certain intoxicated atmospheres typical of Dylan's 'Blonde on Blonde', ending with “Blue is the Frequency,” a long instrumental jam dominated by Hagerty's guitar. All the other tracks confirm, however, their passion for the dirty sound.

While still remaining within the song format, Royal Trux manage to avoid banality, showing a skill in playing rock’n’roll far superior to many indie bands in today's music scene: bands like The Strokes, for example, as much as they have (in my very humble opinion) produced a good album in “Is This It?”, will never hold up to any album by the New York duo.

'Veterans of Disorder' oozes life and sincerity, things unfortunately missing from so many bands today, too worried about “wrapping up” the sound and looking good on MTV. In any case, it was impossible to replicate “Twin Infinitives” years later, but this album still shows that their creative vein had not yet run dry… and that sometimes you need to get your hands dirty!