Volume X is the tenth album by American post-rock originators Trans Am – which could, quite reasonably, encourage listeners to assume that there is nothing new here. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as the band push themselves to reinvent their approach not just for the album as a whole but as each new track unfolds. Despite taking on by turns the likes of industrial trance, hardcore punk thrash, trippy motorik sounds and prog-folk though, Volume X never strays too far from the dancefloor – albeit in a parallel world where lowest common denominator, EDM, is given the short shrift that it largely deserves.
The influences that are brought to bear on Volume X are eclectic and far-ranging. “Anthropocene” is all pounding synth riffage married to a relentless groove and live drums that brings to mind early Nine Inch Nails – but without the self-loathing. While “Night Shift”, initially characterised by Kraftwerk-ian European trance music, evolves into a massive motorik beast that aims straight for the hips. The electro-thuggery of “K Street”, on the other hand, welds the muscular throb of Black Strobe to the wilful strangeness of post-punk sonic explorer Fad Gadget.
Volume X, however, is not just about electronica. “Backlash” is an aggressive, mosh-tastic hardcore punk thrasher with a monstrous high-speed riff. While album closer, “Insufficiently Breathless” is all acoustic guitars with heavy prog-folk overtones and winds things down with a suitably mellow groove.
Every track on Volume X is an absolute winner apart from “I’ll Never”, which is hard to imagine coming from the same band. Vocoder vocals are laid over an electro-ballad that brings to mind a weak take on some of Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore-sung tear-jerkers. Fortunately, this is an aberration that is easily put into the shade by the meaty sythns of juggernauts like “Megastorm”, “Ice Fortress” and the rest of the treasure here.
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