TRPP start strong with energetic, shoegaze debut | Review

TRPP

TRPP

Magic Strawberry, 2021.

9.2

review by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)

Youthful and vibrant are the core characteristics of this lively shoegaze debut from Magic Strawberry's TRPP.

Trpp has two distinct settings. The album is split evenly between delicate, emotion-driven lullabies and sun-kissed indie-pop. While the band peppers these two styles throughout, both of them come together for album opener Pause. Here the fusion of fuzzy guitar and pulsating, punchy rhythms mix to kick things off appropriately.

While many of this album's most compelling moments are more solemn (see Honey, a Joke and Home Dance), there's a section that shreds with a jagged, baggie groove. Lead single Liars struts forth with an acid house vigour that doesn't stop short of a baggie-esque "yeah, yeah, yeah."

The album is a swirl of the band's early 90s British/Irish influences with nods to Cocteau Twins, Stone Roses, and My Bloody Valentine slathered all over this. Despite these allusions, the whole thing glistens with a California swagger. TRPP's instrumentation style can't be called surfy (it's shoegaze, through and through), but it has an undeniable beachy heart driving it forward.

The effect of dream-pop/shoegaze is often to imply the sensation of nostalgia without pushing the listener to think about the past. It's audio déjà vu, a shimmering wall of comfort to wrap around you, to indulge you, and to reflect something in you that may or may not be there. In its more thoughtful moments, this album does that perfectly.

The album is available on Magic Strawberry. You can follow the band here.