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Royal Trux – White Stuff //Fat Possum// (Released 1st March)

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£19.99 – Indies Only “Pizza” Coloured Vinyl LP

£17.99 – Standard LP

In the 1990’s Royal Trux established themselves as one of the greatest rock groups of that hallowed era. With albums of extrasensory scope ranging from 1990s Twin Infinitives (which belongs to the special category of albums whose impact may take decades to be measured), to 1993’s Cats And Dogs (with its seamless blend of classic roots, grunge, and punk) to 2000’s Pound For Pound (inhabiting a well-worn coat of southern hard-rock boogie), they reinvented the group concept born with the Rolling Stones (whose music inspired the duo with a definitive template with which to fuck), accepting nothing less than “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll band” as an opening proposition!

Jennifer Herrema (vocals, moog, guitar, melodica, sticks and stones, pots and pans) and Neil Hagerty (vocals and guitarist) were both in the Washington, D.C. area where they met and, as teenagers, formed Royal Trux while living in an abandoned warehouse. Hagerty and Herrema were by nature loners, drug abusers and intellectuals. After a move to New York City they still stood out among the many art school “bands” of the late 80s playing with a revolving cast of freaks, fellow-travellers, and influences that allowed them to discard the tradition of a “band” with “members”. Listening to the records nobody else cared to play anymore, they chose to stake out a post no-wave stance shot through with aspects of classic New Yorkia – Godz, Lovin’ Spoonful, Lou Reed and Television all fit the bill – sifting it through in a personal manner that eventually became known as the “lo-fi” genre. In this tactile fashion, they gained notoriety for their unconventional music and ideas, presenting themselves at live shows and elsewhere with an aesthetic marked by indifference and debauchery.

It was the end of 1988 that saw them release their own, self-titled LP for not much more than $500. With no label or distribution in place it was the music that propelled their trajectory (not money, nepotism, or connections) – this was what it took to launch new beginnings in the music world/landscape at that time. Not long after, Drag City and Domino came calling, and an attempt to dominate worldwide was undertaken. Up through 1995, via several records, tours, a film (What is Royal Trux?) and a relentless promotion campaign (including placing their “art” as TV adverts on the sci-fi network and others), their portfolio expanded, leading to a contract with Virgin Records, who evaluated them to be necessary listening on a big-time level. It could only have been done with fresh eyes and ears and the understanding that new realms of possibility could be accessed by Truxian imagination and vision.

Over two decades have passed and the pair’s music continues to sound just as progressive, vital, and confounding. Beyond the genre-setting and –defying music and the genius of Hagerty’s playing, they were fronted by a willfully non-archetypal female singer whose stance became it’s own archetype over the years, as the world caught on to the need for a new breed. Subsequently, a generation of females looked to Jennifer Herrema for inspiration, emulation and commodification.

When they finally parted ways – following the release of Pound For Pound in 2000 – they did so just as they do everything: spectacularly. Their hiatus lasted 15 years, with little to no communication between them in the interim. It was to their fans enormous surprise – and delight – that they announced a run of new shows in 2015. Shortly after the release of their live album Platinum Tips + Ice Cream in 2017, they inked a new deal with veritable Mississippi indie Fat Possum.  As part of that deal, earlier recordings from Royal Trux were reissued, many of which had been absent from streaming services. With the catalogue readily available, and the appetite for the live shows undiminished, Jennifer and Neil recorded White Stuff – their first new material in 19 years – on the industrial fringes of Los Angeles in the summer of 2018. The new music delivers all of the intoxicating alchemy one would expect from Royal Trux. Their lengthy recording break has done nothing to diminish their visionary, visceral intensity and enduring influence.

Royal Trux have done as much to define the look, attitude and sound of rock & roll as any other group in the rock & roll era. This is due to their Bitches Brew approach: “everything in the pot whether you like it or not”, deriving from world music, punk rock, jazz, metal, electronic, southern, teeny-bop and all the rest. In the tradition of the blues, through appropriation and evaluation, Royal Trux changed the way we think of music – it is no surprise that their Truxian language has been further absconded with and recited uncredited for years. Such organic perpetuation only happens with original thought worthy of its own definition. This was and is Royal Trux: innovators and dedicated lifers among the sounds they love. Odds are, whether you know it or not, if you find yourself reading this you’ve been touched by Royal Trux. But only in the right places!

Tracklisting:

  1. White Stuff
  2. Year Of The Dog
  3. Purple Audacity #2
  4. Suburban Junky Lady
  5. Shows And Tags
  6. Get Used To This
  7. Sic Em Slow
  8. Every Day Swan
  9. Whopper Dave
  10. Purple Audacity #1
  11. Under Ice

Additional information

Format

Indies Only "Pizza" Coloured Vinyl, Standard LP