No Trigger

Tycoon

Written by: PP on 29/05/2012 01:11:13

Few bands are able to generate as much underground media hype with so little recorded material as Worcester, Massachusetts based No Trigger. They formed in 2000, released a bunch of demos and split EPs in the years that followed, where several leading magazines called them the best unsigned band in the country before the release of their critically acclaimed debut album "Canyoneer" in 2006. With over a million plays according to Last.fm alone since then, the band have been terribly quiet and in fact have released just one brief EP in the span between then and February this year, when the band finally released a long-awaited and highly anticipated follow-up album called "Tycoon". So that begs the question to be asked: is it worth the hype?

Absolutely. It's difficult to recall a better executed melodic hardcore album in recent years, simply because "Tycoon" positions No Trigger precisely in between two similar, yet vastly different styles of punk, taking the best of both worlds in the process.It's an album that draws its strength from the irresistible shout-along melodies of bands like Red City Radio, None More Black, Kid Dynamite and the older (and rougher) songs of Rise Against (circa "Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" era), while retaining the explosive and ferocious vocal delivery known from, say, Strike Anywhere or A Wilhelm Scream. It's technical at times, simplistic elsewhere, whichever is more suited for the song, be it an aggressive, scream-obsessed piece rooted in hardcore or a hyper melodic sing along piece that has its origins in melodic punk rock. It's all there. "Dried Piss", "Maple Boy", "Department Of The Interior", "Checkmate"...there's enough great songs here to drown an army of punk rock fans who've been waiting for the next great Rise Against release since "The Sufferer & The Witness", while also pleasing the shouted-out-loud melody fans of Red City Radio, or the pioneering melodic hardcore fans of Kid Dynamite.

But perhaps the key ingredient that makes "Tycoon" a great album instead of just a good/solid one is how perfectly it balances the catchy, almost pop-esque elements from mainstream punk with the basement intensity and sweaty sing alongs from tiny club shows on a single album. The songs are undeniably catchy, yet contain a sense of urgency that's rare to find on albums this melodic. Catchy melodic hardcore rarely comes this good these days, which is why I have basically no choice but to award it a great rating. "Tycoon" is basically their new "Canyoneer", an album which makes the band look and feel like they are on the verge of a breakthrough. That is, if they don't take another six years to release a follow-up.

Download: Maple Boy, Dried Piss, Department Of The Interior, Checkmate, Mountaineer
For the fans of: None More Black, old Rise Against, Strike Anywhere, A Wilhelm Scream, Kid Dynamite, Red City Radio
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 21.02.2012
No Sleep Records

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