Trans Am

by Sean Cooper Trans Am are loosely associated with the mid-90s post-rock scene centered around Tortoise, Ui, Labradford, Windy & Carl, etc., and the Thrill Jockey, Kranky, UHF, and Southern labels, among others. Although a vast distance separates Trans Ams albums, all of them are concerned with an extreme, somewhat humorous reorientation of the clichés and conventions of rock music, primarily through either technical (exaggerated displays of skill) or instrumental (electronics, effects) deviation. Formed in Washington, D.C., in 1990, the group didnt begin seriously recording until 1995, after its members (Phil Manley, Nathan Means, and Sebastian Thomson) finished college. Their self-titled debut, on the Chicago-based Thrill Jockey label, was recorded after just a few rehearsals back together, and contained instrumental, largely improvised versions of simple rock-oriented figures based loosely (and, again, quite humorously) on 70s and 80s popular and progressive bands such as Boston, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Yes. Produced by Tortoises John McEntire at Chicagos Idful Studios, the album was instantly (if somewhat ironically) lauded as an example of post-rock (an association that as much proves the meaningless of the genre as Trans Ams own relation to it), in turn leading to a short live tour as Tortoises opening act. The group returned in the fall of 1996 with a self-titled EP of somewhat retro electro-funk experiments (released by Happy Go Lucky) that brought to the fore an affection for electronics previously reserved either for between-time studio distraction or the brief interludes separating the meatier segments of their debut. With 1997s Surrender to the Night, however, Trans Am expanded that approach to album length, with inadvertent tributes to Kraftwerk, Hashim, Can, and New Order dominating and only a few recognizably rock songs included. Also signaling a change in focus was the expanded role electronics would play in their live performances; where earlier incarnations of the group included noodly Casio interludes that never grew beyond sideshow, Surrenders more electronics-heavy material meant more of the stage space was given over to analog machines, trigger devices, and MIDI-wired beatboxes. Trans Ams inclusion on the Mille Plateaux labels double-CD compilation In Memoriam Gilles Deleuze (alongside Cristian Vogel, Beequeen, Mike Ink, and Atom Heart, as well as labelmates Rome and Oval) also helped introduce the band to audiences in European, where the group has found similar popularity as such electronic/acoustic hybrids as Flying Saucer Attack and Stereolab. A fourth album, Futureworld, followed in 1999, and a year later the group returned with its most expansive album yet, The Red Line, recorded in the bands own National Recording Studio. In 2002, a cool-handed Trans Am released T.A. — another foray into late-80s/early-90s electro-rock. The ironic, political Liberation followed in early 2004; after the albums release, the members of Trans Am scattered across the globe on a planned hiatus for two years. Means ended up in Auckland, New Zealand, and the band convened there to begin sessions for their next album at MAINZ, a local recording school. After completing the album at Brooklyns Okropolis studio, the results, Sex Change, were released in early 2007.