Traindodge "Torch EP + 2" (No Karma)
By Lucas Salg
Wednesday. Sep 14, 1:52 AM
Compositional and melodic sophistication.

Here in Denver, we have a little hole-in-the-wall dive called 15th Street Tavern, which has virtually no redeeming features. The club always seems crowded even when it isn’t, the layout is all wrong with a giant bar taking up the middle third of the venue, the stage is about the size of three postage stamps laid out end to end, and the sound ranges from mediocre at best to complete ass at worst. For some reason, though, this venue continually books awesome artists, many of whom succumb to the stilted ambience and wind up playing like total shit.

The one act I’ve seen who were able to rise to the challenge of playing in such a wasted space are Traindodge. This band came out and kicked 15th Street Tavern’s ass clear into the next century, and everyone in the audience along with it. Traindodge are a trio out of Norman, OK, a sort of sister city to the whole KC/Midwest scene. And while they do incorporate elements of that scene into their complex sound, they also bring a level of compositional and melodic sophistication that eludes many bands who could be generally lumped into the dreaded “math-rock” subset.

The Torch EP, originally recorded in 2000, was a sort of stopgap release between their first album About Tomorrow’s Mileage and their excellent 2002 album, On a Lake of Dead Trees. It’s being re-released in September by No Karma with a couple a bonus tracks thrown in for good measure. While it doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights attained on their subsequent albums, there’s enough good material on here to show that even five years ago Traindodge were way ahead of the game. Things get off to an auspicious start with “The Raining Room,” which is the kind of driving, pummeling anthem that really defines their sound: heavy but not heavy-handed, complex but not pretentious, ambitious and experimental in structure without sounding forced or messy.

(Let me take a moment here to fully impress upon the reader the sheer fucking awesomeness of drummer Rob Smith: you can get an idea from “The Raining Room” just how badass this dude is, with its mind-blowing fills, effortless tempo shifts, and head-snapping double-bass runs. But you’ve really got to see this band live to appreciate what this guy can do: playing keyboard and drums at the same time, busting out a keyboard line and then rolling into a “Neil Peart on crack” fill without pausing for so much as a split-second)

The high level of musicianship is evident from start to finish, particularly on the explosive closer “Kachina,” which begins with a dark, expressive intro led by Chris Allen’s fluid bassline before exploding into a chorus that’s soaring and even anthemic without resorting to any tired emo clichés. Jason Smith’s voice and guitar complement the rhythmic attack perfectly, and he pulls off a lot of interesting, unorthodox chord changes and progressions that would sound sloppy or out-of-place in the hands of less talented songwriters. There are a handful of moments and half-baked ideas on Torch that make it clear that Traindodge was in the formative stages – “Mountaintown Fire Station” never really takes off when it should, while the 11-minute “Cactus Flag” drags its sludgy drone out for far too long – but it definitely shows that Traindodge were on to something with their unique sound. If you’re new to Traindodge, this EP may not necessarily be the best place to start. But if you’re at all a fan of the band, you’ll want to pick this up and see just how far they’ve come. Recommended.
www.traindodge.com
www.nokarma.com

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Lucas Salg

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