SEX CHANGE - TRANS AM
Trans Am’s seven previous albums have walked the thin line between genuine homages to Kraftwerk, Rush and Led Zeppelin and are-you-serious? exercises that push the limits of hero worship. Still, there’s something continually appealing about the trio’s refusal to march to any drummer other than its own on “Sex Change,” which revels in straightforward grooves augmented by Trans Am’s signature blend of retro electronics and live instrumentation. Don Caballero fans will eat up the distorted riff-fest “Shining Path,” and “North East Rising Sun” imagines a coked-up Kraftwerk careening down the Autobahn. Dare to sit still through the bizarre, Vocoder-enhanced “Climbing Up the Ladder (Parts III and IV),” and toe-tap with a smile during “4,738 Regrets,” which is almost cinematic in its wistfulness. That this album could just as easily have come out in 1985 is no detriment to its consistently entertaining songs. Billboard
