Trophy Scars – Alphabet. Alphabets
Trophy Scars debut album Alphabet. Alphabets will see an official release on September 3rd via Small Town Records and I urge anyone to buy a copy. At first glance it appears to be just another gimmick, with almost every song beginning with A (which is in fact the last tracks title) and repeated in plural form. But on first listen this is forgotten. The album becomes much less of a gimmick and a simply wonderful piece of creativity.
It is an album that will highlight all that has been lost and forgotten within the genre of post hardcore. With a nod towards the melodic beauty of Cursive and the vocally aggressive traits of Thursday, and comparisons have already been made to the Blood Brothers and Bright eyes, which are said to be "Due to the ferocious vocal delivery of gut wrenching, high pitched screams."
Alphabet. Alphabets is definitely one ambitious album constructed between two different states by John and Brian Ferrara and their vocalist Jerry Jones. Making the album this way would perhaps explain the combination of differing elements and musical styles included, the hardcore and hip-hop genres for example, the classic rock and the moments of indie. They have managed however to fuse these elements together quite seamlessly to produce an original, creative and inspiring piece of work.
The soaring pianos, epic passages and schizophrenic vocals, the hardcore to the indie rock, the brutal to the atmospheric and the beats to the progressive, sounds on paper like a confused mess. But only when you listen to this album can you see how it truly fits together and becomes less about the combination of styles but one whole album with many beautiful layers.
The albums opener "An Introduction, All Introductions begins with the gentle strum of a guitar, a simple but steady beat and the soothing and atmospheric vocal of Jerry Jones. This progresses however into a more ferocious vocal delivery to hardcore screams. Something that appeared quite unexpected from the opening passage.
Track two follows with an aggressive opening section with a gruff voiced Jones driving the song forward, singing about pain he screams "I'll try to forget you".
One particularly interesting track on the album is Assassin. Assassins, which begins slowly until it is hijacked by yearning screams and ends up with a hip hop finish. It takes the listener on a journey through different musical styles, through the calm and through the brutality.
Alligator. Alligators is the longest track on the album, with over 7 minutes of something that could easily be found on a Bright Eyes album. But it's beautiful, it's relaxing and it has a gorgeous piano ending.
With a total of 16 tracks on Alphabet. Alphabets, covering pain, youth, fighting, and the day- to-day stresses and tensions of life and relationships, alongside Jerry Jones beautifully earnest vocals, epic passages soaring guitars and gentle piano melodies, it's not to be overlooked. In fact it's supposed to be looked at, picked up and taken to the nearest cash register.