3 song 7” from another great STL band. Astral pop on the A side with some drum machine new wave tracks on the flip. Risographed sleeves, Random color vinyl.
Our take: Are Trauma Harness the band with the most releases on Lumpy Records? I think that at this point they may have even surpassed Lumpy & the Dumpers. Anyway, the fact that they put out so many records despite the fact that they’re a quasi-uncomfortable fit on the label reminds me a lot of Sorry State’s relationship with Whatever Brains, and just as the people who bought Direct Control and Koro records were probably really confused by the ‘Brains, the people who buy Lumpy and CCTV records probably don’t quite know what to make of Trauma Harness, but no doubt the people who have taken the time to really hear this band appreciate them a great deal. On this latest single they come at “new wave” from a few different directions to uniformly strong results. The a-side is a guitar-based, big melodic pop song that reminds me of guitar-based 80s new wave bands like the Chameleons or Modern English, while the two tracks on the b-side lean on the synths a little bit harder, going in more of a Human League / Depeche Mode kind of direction. While the vocals are a tad on the unconventional side (at least for pop music), the pop songcraft shines through and ensures that no matter what style they’re pursuing Trauma Harness’s songs are going to be really cool and memorable.