Review Summary: Trophy Scars progresses without conforming to the scene = win/win for everybody!
Trophy Scars is during
“Alphabet, Alphabets”:
Josh Ferrara: Guitars, Vocals, Piano, and Synths
A.J. Hanson: Guitars and Vocals
Jerry Jones: Vocals
Brian Ferrara: Drums
Andy Farrell: Bass and Vocals
Produced by Chris Badami
Original Release Date: June 13, 2006
Label as produced: The Death Scene
All Introduction, All Introductions
The Death Scene is an independent label that is known for getting unique and genuine bands. Passionate, sincere, and talented. Even though the label is one of the smallest ones I know of and like, they ensure almost every release to be a quality one. I was first introduced to the label by a band called Quantice Never Crashed and was absolutely floored by the music. Trophy Scars has been around with floating EP’s and such but “Alphabet, Alphabets”, is the big time LP. Trophy Scars is a hard mix to come up with a definition with. The first word that comes to mind is PASSION though. Think about if bands such as Circle Takes The Square, Blood Brothers, Mewithoutyou, and all had a baby. Strikingly enough they remind me of a more mellowed out version of Quantice Never Crashed but I don’t think that means anything to anyone since finding there LP is rare enough and short lived. As scene as anyone wants to think the Blood Brothers are this style of music seems like a dying breed of past classics. Trophy Scars may of freshened its sound from its previous releases but remain just as strong in their first big time L.P. The band isn't conforming to any mold to appeal to a wider collective of potential listeners, instead delving even further into some wholly more challenging grounds.
Alphabet, Alphabets
The album kicks off with a soothing acoustic guitar introduction which leads into an electric riff and vocals. The vocals are barely understandable and give off such a cryptic and paranoia feeling. It’s short, but as the title reads only an introduction to the album which leads into the next song.. “Artist, Artists” which is full speed ahead song with loud, layered, chords and chaotic screaming vocals. If anyone knows who The Oval Portrait are, this song feels like it could be right out of there set list. The vocals throughout the song sound so frantic and sincere with screams and almost spoken singing. The guitar fades in and out of hard chords layering dissonance and melodic little licks in the interlude and as hooks. The use of octave chords is a specialty in this band. “Assistant, Assistants” is the single off of this album and rightfully so. The song is so emotionally tense throughout and so beautifully put for any teenager who’s lived his life. The lyrics are astounding. The screaming and singing feel all appropriately placed and gives the song a real experience. The build up with the double bass at the 1:45 minute leads into an amazing crescendo with the whole band singing. When I heard this part I was absolutely in awe.
It didn’t matter that the bands singing was awful or not but the lyrics were extremely relateful in my own life and nearly put me to tears. This was a song I needed when I was in a harder part of my life 3 years ago. I loved every bit of it, it was beautifully constructed.
“Assassin, Assassins” is led right into as if this whole album feels like one long song. This song comes in with piano and a very cryptic singing vocals but is just as beautiful as the previous. It grows into very angry sounding screaming and the whole band kicks open the song. The song grows back to its softer sung and piano part. The use of the piano is used effectively in the song and the song continues to grow tense through emotion. “Accent, Accents” is a slow song that expresses a lot of different instrumentals with the use of synths and piano again. The song turns into a rap song? WTF? It’s obvious that the song is very experimental and as it’s not necessarily bad, it often feels like a joke song more then anything that would be on some stupid single that you need to pay $8 for 2 songs on. “Apparition, Apparitions” makes things very cryptic sounding once again after a short little rap interlude. The lyrics in this song just sound like poetry and literally moves the song so much. I could probably give this album a 4 just because some of the lyrics. The song builds up with the drums and remains to bleed with very cryptic words. A lot of experimenting is used such as with blast beats that wouldn’t be found in previous albums that really
make this album tasteful. “Yes” is a song that follows more conventions then the previous. It opens up with a pop-punk like setting and is a delightful change. Lead guitar repeating the same little lick over and over, rhythm chords, and bass following the rhythm which leads into those frantic vocals. This song also has a little southern rocky feeling to it as well. Also a cliché breakdown which sounds exactly like every other one in existence. As the song feels like a nice change from the previous songs it also doesn’t export anything really new and exciting.
“No” on the other hand is way different. It starts off with a lot of guitar melody and crystal clean licks with a touch of delay. It accents the song “Yes” well since it was very rough around the edges “rock out” and now “No” is very clean and instrumentalized. As it feels more like a jamming with the band the vocals come in very late to the song and by that time feel irrelevant since the guitars leave the listener in awe. “Alchemist, Alchemists” is just unbelievable and my favorite song off of the album. It starts off with a short little riff and leads into winding octave chords with harsh screaming of vocals to the usual cryptic ones. The vocalist and the lyrics just feel so pained throughout the song and is accented well by the band behind it. The added piano during the interlude just makes the music more breathtaking. The piano leads into the 2 minute mark with a “Blood Brothers-esque” type sound. The song is one of the longest and noticeably takes out all the stops with beautiful piano interludes, variety of vocals, and guitar solos.
By the end of the song I feel surprisingly satisfied and accomplished, more in this one song then a lot of albums I’ve heard recently. “Addict, Addicts” sounds like an indie song from the beginning with the bendy guitar lick used and the spoken vocals. The vocals present much variety throughout the album and that makes me very happy. Whatever they might be, they always feel emotional. The guitar solo in this song sounds freakishly weird like a circus theme park song.
“Alligator, Alligators” is another indie sounding song. It kind of reminds me of Bright Eyes… The acoustic and vocals trade off each other and sound awesome. The lyrics are rhythmic and flowing which keeps the song at a higher pace then most acoustic songs. Once again the lyrics are basically poetry in motion. The songs end comes with a girls voice which sounds over an answering machine. “Alibi, Alibis” opens with the girls voice with the answering machine and feeds looped throughout. Just a filler to add atmosphere and feeling. “Apple, Apples” has barely legible vocals as it feels like an insomniac singing. At climaxing the vocals rage into screams. The guitar work on this song is a nice backing to the screams and always adds nice hooks and interludes. “Anxiety, Anxieties” is a slow song that has undesirable vocals in my opinion. The vocalist just sounds weird in the beginning of the song with the piano parts. The song winds down with instrumentals continuing with the piano, drums, and guitar loving. “A Song Begins with “A”. Almost All These Songs Begin With “A” is the last song on the album and moves at a brisk pace. The guitar in the beginning does its goodbyes but introducing the song with a small solo. The song is more of a goodbye notice and pretty disappointing since it ends at 45 seconds in.
Encore, Encores
As “Alphabet, Alphabets” is an excellent release by Trophy Scars it is not perfect by any means but very damn good in my book. They combined outstanding lyrics with a lot of emotive hardcore/emo influences, more evident in their earlier works. The filler tracks are hit or miss where some I’ve could of done without and dragged out the pacing on the album and others fit perfectly well.
I've never heard a rap segment in the middle of a post-hardcore song, and I wish I haven't still, but it proves their creativity and broadness. This band is breaking its mold and I really hope to be able to see them live in a few weeks from now.
Pros:
+ Creativity + Originality
+ Vocals/Lyrics
+ Song Constructions
Cons:
- Questionable filler tracks
- The album has a very continuous pace but some of the songs running into each other feel awkward and don’t fit well
