Trinity Roots: Citizen (Trinity Roots/Rhythmethod)

 |   |  <1 min read

Trinity Roots: El Kaptain
Trinity Roots: Citizen (Trinity Roots/Rhythmethod)

Those many of us who believed the two albums by the first incarnation of Trinity Roots were important statements about life here in Aotearoa will be disappointed – if not insulted – by this superbly produced but woefully undercooked album.

There are frequently threadbare lyrics (“We got to find the diamond in the rough” is the least of it) and it's mostly dated prog-rock with overtones of MOR-LA jazz-lite or faux-soul.

The crunch'n'quiet King Crimson shapes of Bully is followed by the piano jazz-cum-reggae groove and inane lyrics of the 11 minute Citizen about some imagined, boastful wealthy type (“but you don't even know your neighbours” sing the soul-gal Greek chorus before the flute and sax solos) which barely moves beyond cliché.

The overriding political ethos revolves around crayon-like drawings of the soulless rich in superyachts, hapless citizens under the thumb of some “Kaptain” (PM Key “heading too far to starboard. To a fission”?) and/or the “Governor” (“Governor shepherds me like a helpless bovine”).

Playing the victim in slow-tempo prog-plod is hardly appealing.

This sounds good but delivers fewer barbs than it thinks it does, is replete with ponderous prog-rock dubby tropes and attempts to be portentous in its socio-political intent (Hercules, Haiku).

So, it's a “No” from me.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Cybiont: A Trilogy of Random Thoughts and Considerations (Cybiont)

Cybiont: A Trilogy of Random Thoughts and Considerations (Cybiont)

First let it be noted that this album by a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Northland is not an easy proposition, and nor does it give up its manic diversity that easily. The title... > Read more

Bert Jansch: Avocet 40th Anniversary Edition (Earth/Southbound)

Bert Jansch: Avocet 40th Anniversary Edition (Earth/Southbound)

The late Scottish singer/guitarist and songwriter Bert Jansch who co-founded the influential Pentangle and died in 2011, left a vast legacy of albums of which many are still coming to terms with.... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

I'M YOUR MAN; THE LIFE OF LEONARD COHEN by SYLVIE SIMMONS

I'M YOUR MAN; THE LIFE OF LEONARD COHEN by SYLVIE SIMMONS

On the eve of his first tour as a musician in 1970 a nervous Leonard Cohen -- aged 34, an acclaimed poet and novelist itinerant between hometown Montreal, the Greek island of Hydra and New... > Read more

GEORGE HARRISON: BE HERE NOW photographs by BARRY FEINSTEIN

GEORGE HARRISON: BE HERE NOW photographs by BARRY FEINSTEIN

Anyone coming to this book – as this writer did – for a glimpse inside the late George Harrison's eccentric Friar Park home will be disappointed. Despite billed as American... > Read more