Trailer Camps bring out an interesting group of people. When I rode the bus the first few years of high school, my particular bus would go all the way to the edge of town to pick up the kids from the trailer park before picking me up. It wasn’t exactly some backwoods trailer camp from Arkansas; a lot of them were rather nice for being mobile homes, but these were the single loudest, rowdiest group of kids I had ever encountered.

From what I understand, and what Jerry Springer has taught me, it’s no isolated phenomena; people from trailer parks are just naturally louder. This has apparently carried over into the new album from Trailer Camp, Hope You Didn’t Sleep on the Violator.

This rowdy, raucous brand of rock ’n’ roll is long on attitude and short on musicianship. The instrumentation throughout the record really does leave a lot to be desired; it’s brash and snotty, but so much of it is more repetition than consistency. Starting well enough with a slinky bass-line and some jagged rifffing, “Oh My God Those Eyes” is quickly parlayed into a much more toned down effort than was originally promised. The drumming is very jerky, which is perfect for a record like this, but it’s not until the choruses that the guitar really kicks back in; the meantime is just a few plodding chord progressions on the fast track to nowhere. Towards the end there’s some great clean parts, and more of a return to form, but the middle of the track sags enough to really be noticeable.

Trailer Camp are plenty capable of wailing away at their instruments, but far too often does that result in anything of a substantial nature. It’s more a collection of intense riffs with no true direction or purpose, like a band trying too hard to be Hot Snakes. Hot Snakes held a very high level of musicianship though; while on the top was noise, underneath was layers upon layers of cohesive musicianship. This is what’s lacking with a track like “Hipcheck the Kids.” In very intense rock ‘n’ roll fashion, they rage through two-and-a-half minutes, but the most noticeable element of the entire song is the continued use of the hi-hat.

“What a Whirl with Windows” is even more off kilter, with vocals that sound straight out of a megaphone being blasted over barely audible riffs. The production does have a lot to do with this, but the songs have to be able to offer more than a rhythm that’s only memorable while you’re listening to it. When they figure that out, they’ll be well on their way to purchase of a beautiful double wide with all the trimmings.