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Trenchmouth is probably one of the most important bands you've never heard. They're also probably one of the most misunderstood bands of all time. THICK Recordsis hoping to clear both of these up with this, a retrospective covering the defunct Chicago band's career.

Now, the problem is, how do I describe this band's sound? Well, I'll try a few ways - Ever heard of a band called Franklin? Know how they fused indie rock with dub, rather successfully? Well, substitute "hardcore" in place of "indie rock" and that's Trenchmouth.

Hmm, that didn't work? Well, see if you can imagine what it would sound like if Bad Brains collaborated with Fugazi on an album. Take the post-punk urgency from Fugazi and mix it up with the sheer lunacy of HR and company, and you'd probably have something akin to Trenchmouth.

The band's sound, if none of that makes sense to you, is one of funk mixed with hardcore/thrash mixed with dub. It's unique and highly original, and probably influential. It'd be easy to listen to bands like At The Drive-In or Dismemberment Plan and point out how Trenchmouth influenced each [and actually, both bands admitted many times that Trenchmouth was an influence].

So that brings us to this CD, a retrospective of the band's career. All four of their records were released on Skene! Records and are all now out of print, so THICK took the cream of the crop and produced this 70-minute sampler into the world of Trenchmouth. It's all-inclusive, covering every baby step of the band's evolution [complete with excellent liner notes and artwork]. From the frenetic congas of "Sea of Serenity" to the extended dub jams of "Broadcasting From The Heart" [as well as a previously unreleased, live version of "Onus" from the band's last show], this CD really has it all. It takes a little time to really get into, but if you're someone who likes knowing where your favorite bands came from, this CD's worth your money.



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    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 19, 2003 at 12:43 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Twat is a genious

    cobra-verde

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 at 12:27 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    shoot yourself?? now we're getting somewhere.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 16, 2003 at 10:36 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    If you would open your fucking eyes you would see that I only was negative towards the big boy. Dipshit, I bet you were the stupid kid in school that took that directions test. You know the one I'm talking about. The one where you're supposed to read all of the directions and not actually do the test. Stupid fuck. Drive thru and nu metal huh? Damn you gots me pegged. I guess I have to go pull a hemmingway now. I'm just not cool enough for you. I'm gonna read the lyrics for a drive thru band while I listen to korn and shoot myself.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 16, 2003 at 7:13 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    2 years ago I liked Everclear and The Goo Goo Dolls, does that make me a poser?

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 16, 2003 at 1:01 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    yep - all you negative fucks just keep on listening to your drive-thru-mall-punk. The rest of us know you were listening to NU-Metal not 2 years ago. posers.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 16, 2003 at 12:39 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    saturday night live sure has gone down the crapper. just see MXC.

    Ramo

    Posted by sickboi on 2003-06-15 03:03:18
    My Score:

    I wish twat would rip into me, that shit is funny.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 15, 2003 at 2:38 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    hey Scott, i would just like to say that some people are dicks. Ok? Alright.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 15, 2003 at 12:27 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    I know exactly why Scott likes these guys. First you have to get to know Scott. Picture a fat ass. Not just any fat ass, a punk rock fat ass. He wears a spiked belt that can't quite fit around his waist, so he makes wrist bands out of them. He also loves food. I mean what fat ass doesn't? What do you eat food with? That's right you guessed it, a mouth! So it’s only logical that trenchmouth reminds Scott of his only love, eating. Anything that reminds Scott of food he loves. This included. You can say he is biased, but that’s not fair because everything reminds him of eating. Let's give the big guy a break. If you see him on the street save your laughing until he passes by. And remember, fat kids are people to, just bigger. twat
    oh and do me a favor and go fuck yourself.

    twat

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, June 15, 2003 at 12:05 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    "Who's better known? Television, or the Sex Pistols. Richard Hell or John Lydon? Richard Hell was doing everythign the Sex Pistols were doing (minus that whole stupid Anarchy thing) four years before them."

    No...

    Try, one year ahead. The music? Totally different. A lot less thrashy and daring than the Pistols. The lyrics? I love his singing and his lyrics, but they are totally different from the Sex Pistols' ideas... 'Blank Generation' influenced 'Pretty Vacant', that's about it. Put down "Please Kill Me" and pick up a more well rounded book if you want to talk about the U.K. scene like you know anything about it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 14, 2003 at 3:19 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Pretty cool art work, but im pretty sure these fucking suck. -cobra-verde

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 14, 2003 at 12:21 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    How about they were important the same way gravity-core was. A lot of people don't know where the sounds of the bands they listen to came from. Usually it comes from bands that are less known. Screamo, Metalcore and Noise were all heavily influenced by the sounds of gravity, yet how many people do you know own a Heroin album.

    Who's better known? Television, or the Sex Pistols. Richard Hell or John Lydon? Richard Hell was doing everythign the Sex Pistols were doing (minus that whole stupid Anarchy thing) four years before them.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 14, 2003 at 1:52 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    they are the most important band you haven't heard. Meaning there mostlikly not as important as say the Clash, The Romones, The Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, etc...

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, June 14, 2003 at 1:12 AM (EDT)
    My Score:

    How are they the most important band ever?

    Posted by FortyMinutesWest on 2003-06-14 00:40:06
    My Score:

    The Thick website is really ugly, damn.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 13, 2003 at 8:41 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    Their last one, The Broadcasting System is one fucking boss album.

    Posted by maverick on 2003-06-13 19:51:37
    My Score:

    Oops, I forgot to mention as a random tidbit that Trenchmouth drummer Fred Armison is now a member of the current cast of Saturday Night Live.

    So that's something.

    -Scott

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 13, 2003 at 6:59 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    goddamn, i hate artsy/crappy music.

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