Details
Track Listing
1. 1999
2. Television Eyes
3. Futureworld
4. City in Flames
5. Am Rhein
6. Cocaine Computer
7. Runners Standing Still
8. Futureworld II
9. Positron
10. Sad and Young
| Details | | Producer: | Trans Am | | Distributor: | Alternative Dis. Alliance | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Trans Am: Philip Manley (guitar, keyboards); Nathan Means (keyboards, bass); Sebastian Thomson (drums).
Additional personnel: Julian Thomson (saxophone); Fred Erskine (trumpet); Jonathan Kreinik (keyboards).
Recorded at WGNS, Washington, D.C.
Though they're known as avatars of '90s "post-rock," Trans Am are actually heirs to the electronic pop tradition of Kraftwerk. Their sound defined by purposefully robotic rhythms, vocoder-processed vocals, and simple, intertwining analog synth melodies. The most Kraftwerkian aspect of Trans Am's musical modus operandi is their self-consciously futuristic imagery and attitude.
From the computer-generated album art to song titles like "Cocaine Computer" and "Positron," FUTUREWORLD works overtime to reinforce the image of a brave new electronic world, where two-guitars-and-drums rock & roll is relegated to the dustbin of history. The band's saving grace is its ironic sense of humor, which keeps things from getting too heavy-handed as they update the sound that such artists as Gary Numan carried from the '70s into the '80s. Trans Am brings synth-pop swinging into the '90s, with a harder, more focused edge.
Industry Reviews
...starts out like a lion, pouncing with noisy, over-the-top aggression, and exits like a lamb, wandering with willowy serenity, all the while maintaining a cohesive flow that testifies to the trio's maturity as songwriters, programmers and producers...
CMJ (03/22/1999)
...a bleak vision with a perspective drawn from the austere electronica of the late 70s/early 80s...the textures here are dark and viscous....Stark and uncomprimising, this is their best record yet.
Wire (04/01/1999)
(out of 10) - ...FUTUREWORLD integrates stratospheric keyboards and roaring Flying V's so completely that it adds up to the world's heaviest New Wave record...
Spin (04/01/1999)
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