One man’s trash is another man’s…
Not every band takes the time to craft songs that truly present their musical prowess, be it rhythmic capabilities or chop endurance (i.e. many metal bands). However, Tera Melos boasts their understanding of odd time signatures and syncopations throughout their latest project, Trash Generator. The work’s title fits the ambient jumble of sound that glazes the more run-of-the-mill alt-rock sound and with it, eliminating some of the chances to be catchy. Most of the songs here are what Wall-E (from the Pixar movie of the same name) would try to either create or dance along to in his endless free time amongst the garbage-cube piles.
All three members of the group are solid players, yet the guitarist takes the cake for most impressive. In tunes like “Your Friends” and “Trash Generator,” the guitar action is certainly the highlight and makes the alleged ‘trash’ sound pretty damn cool. In the latter track, the guitar provides intentional intensity to simulate the feeling of watching something kind of uncomfortable, like trash being created, say. The idea of finding beauty (or entertainment at least) in unexpected places is an undercurrent of sorts throughout this album, as heard in the dirtiness of “Warpless Run,” the orchestral opening of “Dyer Ln,” and the calm pensive nature of “GR30A11,” a soundtrack to a robot trying to recover from a loss and change its life; arguably the most interesting track on the album.
From there, the band continues to display their deep, cohesive understanding of rhythm and their tasty placement of odd-metered bars (“Universal Gonk”). What does not remain constant is the strength of the songs and their ability to be memorable. Nothing bad or weak at all, it just sounds like the half of the album that had less care put into it. The project as a whole is weakened by this, and it causes listeners to think back to how un-catchy the first half is as well, which cements Trash Generator as an impressive album musically, but one that is memorable mostly for the talent of the Tera Melos members.
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