In 15 years we've seen many sides of Trabants. Since straightforward surf twistin' on their debut, they've jumped to spaghetti, psychedelics, library, and blues... and then psychedelics again. Last year they released their Mantra 7" which was an absolutely stunning fuzzed-out hazed-out burnout that employed every trick in the 60's psychedelic book to excellent effect. And that was a bit of a hint of things to come as they announced their next LP, Mantra.
However, Mantra isn't strictly more of the same, and though they compared it to their third LP Freakout, there's some hair-splitting differences between them. By-and-large, Freakout feels rooted in lava lamps and gogo boots, while Mirage is a bit meaner, more Cycledelic, taking cues from The Electric Prunes and scowling garage bands.
However, to borrow a Tracy Jordan quote, Trabants are like a chameleon: always a lizard. Whenever they change their skin, they're still Trabants, And one thing about Trabants that they do so well to the point that it vexes me: the beat! After all these records, I still don't understand what it is that makes them bop so hard. I have to think it's at least partway in the songwriting, because it's been consistent between multiple drummers, but I don't understand how on this record Anthony Brisson will make braindead snare-and-floor-every-four-beat songs sound intoxicating on tracks like "Soul Garage A Go Go" or "Five Alarm". And not to undersell him, there are plenty of tracks that do call for much more demanding drumming, and they're great as well.
But naturally we're here for guitar, and a lot of it is of the fuzz variety. And interestingly, though Davie Allan is a bit of a throughline on this record, getting a direct callout on "Fuzz 4 Daze" but actually I think the closest guitarist Eric Penna gets is on the second track "Hot Brew". That said, the drums keep it way too groovy to scowl like The Arrows. And then you can flip that coin: "Midnight Bells" and "Five Alarm" have a real angry generation feel to them, but the fuzz pedal remains disengaged. There's a lesser fuzz icon that feels evoked occasionally too: I get a Travis Wammack vibe sometimes, like on "Fuzz for Days".
But surf nuts, where y'at? "Mirage", despite an exotic attitude, is the surfiest one in my book. "Hollywood Surf" of course is there, but perhaps the name is a hint; to me it feels a bit more like the session musician surf cash-in records, with its more idle locomotion and more bluesy approach to guitar.
And while I'm taking guesses, perhaps "Emerald Apricot" is a nod to "Animated Egg", the psychedelic Jerry Cole project? The thing is, Animated Egg never really grabbed me, and this did.
The album ends with a callback to how it began: their Mirage 7". "Mirage Pt. II" is actually quite different though, bringing in the sitar to mingle with bongos and guitar for a more relaxed vibe. I like this as a closer to the album, letting you wind down and fade out, only to be shaken back into action on a second play-through.
Psychedelic era instrumentals are an interesting thing in general to me. Much like surf, it's used as shorthand in movies and TV for a certain activity (drugs usually), but unlike surf I've never found a whole lot of actual records. There are compilations of 45s I've enjoyed (The Mindexpanders series is great), but the few vintage albums I've found that actually seem to be aiming for this usually lack the acidic edge that you'd hope for. I know Eric is a pretty damn savvy digger, perhaps he knows more than I do in this sector, but it also kind of feels like this album (along with Satan's Pilgrims' similar pursuit) are building out a genre that I think people assume to exist more than it actually does. And that's a noble pursuit!
Meanwhile, as a fan of Trabants, I'm a happy fan. As is typical of them, they stretch wide with interesting, adventurous guitar, but connect it all with a very movable and fun beat. There are bands that experiment and have me thinking "that was great, but let's get back to the good stuff." In their case, this is the good stuff, and wherever they go from here, I'll hop right in the back seat. Ideally not of an actual Trabant vehicle, those look very cramped.
Mirage is available on bandcamp and likely other streaming services, and on CD and vinyl.
