Album review: T.S.O.L. – The Trigger Complex

Rise Records [Release date 27.01.17]

T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty) have been around since 1978 and still feature original members Jack Grisham (vocals), Ron Emory (guitar) and Mike Roche (bass), who are joined by Greg Kuehn (piano/synths) and new drummer Chip Hanna. This is the band’s first album since 2007′s ‘Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads’ and their eleventh overall.

Songs like the piano led ‘Don’t You Want Me’ bring to mind the Damned’s later work, whilst the instrumental ‘Bats’ is piece of pure melodic bliss, again the piano playing of Greg Kuehn takes centre stage. Then they hit you with a blast of New Wave on ‘Sometimes’ - a song made for radio - whilst ‘Strange World’ has a brooding lyric coupled with a bombastic chorus and one that won’t leave your head for days. Bit more retro action on ‘Right Side’ with a synth riff the Stranglers would be proud of and the bass rumbles along nicely behind it.

T.S.O.L. seem to be able to dream up catchy melodies on a whim as ‘Satellite’ again has a catchy chorus and a rip roaring guitar solo midway through. ‘Why Can’t We Do It Again’ recalls a former love and has a lovely laid back feel to the playing.

You can see why T.S.O.L. have ben such an influential band down the years as this album is a cornucopia of pop punk and pop rock delights. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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