((Trans Am)) Band Profile and Upcoming Chicago Concerts - Oh My Rockness

Trans Am are so old, they've been around since before anyone had ever heard of the term "music blog." Can you imagine?!? How could they have survived so long without those rock 'n roll saviors?

This prolific and terrific band formed back in 1996 and has released eight albums in that nine-year span. And I don't doubt the Maryland trio will release at least seven more. They just know how to write rock songs.

Trans Am are still on top of their game and seem to generate an unlimited supply of creative output. Perhaps one reason their longevity is often embellished (they haven't really been around "forever") is that every single album they've ever released sounds completely different from the last. Or maybe it's because they debuted during the hey-day of the Thrill Jockey/Tortoise/Chicago post-rock movement, a genre that seems like three or four lifetimes ago in musical years.

But these guys deserve props. They're still doing it and doing it well. If they were once straight-up instrumental post-rock, they are no longer. They're now instrumental post-post-post rock. They're psych, they're drone, they're shoegaze, they're punk. Yes, they're still known to bust out their Casio at their shows, but now they much prefer overpowering guitars and thunderous drums over retro synth tricks.

Trans Am are a highly creative collective that have gone in hundreds of different directions on their musical journey and have many more places yet to go. Yet ultimately they always return home; to the rock.

Published April 17, 2007
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