Released: 9th October 2020
Rating: ★★★★
Few bands quite master the art of explosivity on their first release. Often a time to play it safe, the ability to completely let loose on a debut EP can seem just out of reach. For Fat Trout Trailer Park, the opposite is the case. His self-titled first EP sees the artist amp up the intensity from the word go.
Taking his name from the beloved show Twin Peaks, the EP is littered with throwback influences. Layering 80s pop vibes with a more volatile garage-rock, the artist dives into the darkness of capitalism, returning to the surface absolutely raging.
The EP feels like a testament to the artist’s absolute certainty – it leaves no room for hesitation. Flitting from the high-speed, high-energy opening track ‘Backseat’ to the more eerie and subdued ‘Gold’, there’s an unpredictability to the collection that makes it border on erratic. ‘Wendigo’ is perhaps the highlight; with reverb-heavy vocals that evoke the nostalgia of The Strokes at their prime, it’s ambitious but perfectly executed.
Fat Trout Trailer Park dabbles in a variety of different sounds and genres – somehow, however, he has managed to master each one with equal prowess. The result? A dynamic kind of post-punk, with a renewed anger that has been sorely missed from the genre over the past few years.
Neive McCarthy
