| Release Date: | PBF22 |
| Currently: | In stock (2) |
| Please note: | Black Friday RSD Title coming in-store only on November 24th! No pre-orders or holds on any RSD product. |
Event: BLACK FRIDAY 2022
Release Date: 11/25/2022
Format: LP
Label: Yep Roc Records
Quantity: 1100
Release type: 'RSD First' Release
Trailer Bride's 1996 self-titled record is a long-lost relic of the blooming Chapel Hill, North Carolina music scene of the '90s. Superchunk, Polvo, Archers of Loaf and other indie rock darlings were leading the town's indie rock movement while Southern Culture on the Skids were pushing the alt-country genre forward. Then comes Trailer Bride who combined both of those worlds with a gothic, lo-fi sound that centers around Melissa Swingle's atmospheric vocals and cryptic lyrics. Swingle started Trailer Bride following the demise of her band Pussy Teeth and would later go on to form the indie rock duo The Moaners with Laura King (Bat Fangs, Speed Stick), but the dark, southern sound that defines Trailer Bride's debut record provides a mystifying listening experience a quarter-century later. No Depression said it best in their 1997 review: "They're impossible to describe, but whatever you wanna call it, they sound really good." The album is available for the first time ever on vinyl for Record Store Day Black Friday 2022. This 25th anniversary edition is pressed on cloudy orange vinyl and remastered for vinyl. Limited to 1,500 copies worldwide.
1. Sorry Times
2. Mardi Gras
3. Let Mama Drive
4. Rouge
5. Arrowheads
6. Road to Canaan
7. Trailer Bride
8. Maudlin
9. Landyacht Take Me Home
10. Chatham Co. Militia
11. Sway
12. Flying Saucer
13. Trains at Night
Reviewing an album years after its release is a difficult task, especially when you were introduced to the band’s final album first and this listen is what made you a fan. I first reviewed Trailer Bride in 2003 and loved Hope is a thing with Feathers. The previous albums had a charming quality. Lead vocalist and songwriter /guitarist Melissa Swingle was quirky with tales saturated in Southern American gothic aided with the effects of banjo and saw.
Trailer Bride’s debut in 1996 had an off the beaten quality with atmospheric and cryptic lyrics. The album quickly went out of print and it was two years before Trailer Bride released Smelling Salts. They would continue to be inconsistent with their releases.
It is both poignant and amazing when a song from 27 years ago is just as relevant today as it was at the time of its release. The opening song, Sorry Times, is beautiful and sad. Yet Swingle's vocals have the ability to be subtle despite the content of the lyrics. Slide guitar and harmonica appear only on this album. Thirteen songs allow Swingle’s character to be felt through the lo-fi vibes.
Repeat listens is a must and totally worth the effort.