Trigger Thumb Release PMP EP

Words by Phil Ingham

Other than the odd foray into the city to watch my hometown rugby league team play there, I haven’t had cause to spend much time in Bradford. I was therefore entirely unaware of the music scene in the area until this EP from Bradfordian trio Trigger Thumb landed in my inbox to review.

Without any real background knowledge of the band or their music, I pressed play on the new record. Let’s just say the band don’t wait around to introduce themselves.

Opening track ‘Mean It’ erupts from the speaker, a flurry of drums, jagged guitar and vocals spat like venom. It suggests a face-melter of a track and even I, a lover of most things heavy, brace myself a little for the onslaught.

The song soon mellows – but only a little – into a groove-laden slice of rock-funk with perhaps a little Papa Roach nu-metal in there, before becoming untethered and heavier again towards the end of the track.

It is a song that raises your eyebrows, immediately hooks you into the EP and makes you eager to listen to what else is about to follow.

‘Banana’ treads a similar track initially. Heavy on the funk and, well, just heavy in general. The song spins and twirls into something brilliantly riotous. Infectious, irregular and irresistible.

Each song is a journey, promising a particular style then throwing a handbrake turn to deliver something completely different, yet sometimes still ending up at the destination you thought you were heading for.

There’s no better example on the record than ‘Slime’. It delivers a manic opening with harsh guitars and urgent vocals, before turning into a maelstrom of unexpected noise. Computerised bleeps and screeches that shouldn’t work but do. The song takes so many turns, you’re dizzy by the time it finishes.

 ‘The Fish’ does nothing to calm the chaos. Jerky riffs, drumming that is deliciously and deliberately erratic and vocals reminiscent of Serj Tankian at his unhinged best. Another song that leads you guessing where it goes next and keeping you on the hook to find out.

EP closer ‘Pain Means Progress’ introduces a deep jazz-tinged bassline but overlays this with stabbing guitars and some Jamiroquai-style vocals, with a bit of Serj thrown in again. It’s fun, fresh and exciting and it is a great way for the lads to end the EP.

The whole EP feels like a band having fun and taking chances, and this rubs off on the listener. It’s difficult to listen without a smile on your face. It is accessible, despite its heaviness and its eccentricities, but certainly rewards active and repeated listens.

I can’t place this in a box, and I think that is the point. It plays like a braindump of a myriad of influences, soundscapes and experiments. The result is a record that is unique and, most importantly, great fun.

Band:

Arron Dulay – guitar, vocals

Damen Hughes – bass, backing vocals

Will Long – drums, backing vocals

Tracks:

Mean It

Banana

Slime

The Fish

Pain Means Progress