Trabant
Music 4 Losers

Just off the top of my head, if I had to give cold advice to the Triestines Trabant, I’d tell them that the title of this album, "Music 4 losers," winks too much at that circle where being indie-loser is so cool. Guys, you don’t need it.

A cross between the brash nu-rave and something more traditionally disco-like at the same time, I would immediately pair them with the Iberian Delorean, although the Italian DNA always does its job creating parts that are melodic and catchy, never venturing into something cacophonic or psychedelic or genuinely crazy, Italians always hold back in this regard. I wouldn’t even call them fresh because the synth sounds are not at all, in fact, they are omnipresent and pedantic, but if it weren’t for them, the band’s very essence, which makes music with a hypnotic and ultra-dance footprint, would be lacking (Waste of time is the best example). If Disco Drive could be defined as sparkling like a light sparkling wine, Trabant is the Sangiovese that gets you tipsy at Sunday lunch: it’s evident that you’re dazed, you feel the acid in your throat mixed with the taste of the roast, you don’t fully enjoy the courses, but that’s okay, because you’re enjoying your thoughts a bit more and enduring the relatives' chatter a bit less. Because Trabant’s music absorbs you, it’s just like that.

For my tastes, perhaps a sore point in this band’s writing method is the fact that the structure and dynamics of the songs are completely sacrificed to the relentless beat, so each track ends the way it started, and don’t expect variations or digressions or particularly well-crafted arrangements (in fact, the impression they gave me is of being very basic in this, but beware, basic can easily become mundane), each song is a compact brick, this is very different from a more interesting setup such as that of The Rapture, from which Trabant draws for the sounds and nothing else. That said, the impression is absolutely positive, because the tracks are totally enjoyable.

And the possibility of not having to listen to my cousin at lunch... is absolutely gold.