Quick backstory: We met some lovely new friends that formed a music networking group called Noise Collective NY. Some of those friends are in the band Truest. I was invited and decided to blindly attend and review the show which is something I have never done before (blindly meaning; knowing little to nothing about the bands and their music). I don’t want to give it all away, but let’s just say I was quite pleased with the decision and honored to do this write-up. I know, boring…let’s get to it.
Truest
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014 at The Glasslands Gallery
The set began with an ambient pulsing of vocalist/guitarist Adam Weiss’ stratocaster. White lights shot upwards at the band, growing more illuminant as the room filled with smoke. His vocals gradually layered in immediately grasping the interest and attention of the audience. Before long the whole band joined in with their single “The Machine” which filled the room with life and sound. This little number had some very catchy interweaved chords and melodies exchanged between Matt Schaefer’s (guitarist) creative inversions and fluidity and Jason Desiderio’s unique analogue synth sounds. What came to mind was a modern day 80’s Pink Floyd vibe with a touch of The Arcade Fire.
Although I was told it was Truest’s 3rd show, I could tell after their first song that the solidarity and vibe between members was amazing. Traditional styled drummer, Ian Carroll really locked everyone in adding tasteful ghost notes and use of dynamics. Also, this dude’s snare looked like it was angled 45 degrees away from him. It was blowing my mind.
The vocal doubles and harmonies between Adam and David Saracino (bassist) were very clean, particularly in “Too Close to Call”. This track was a complete 180 from the first track yet complimented it very well. It was as if The Doves and The Smiths and Radiohead decided to collaborate.
“Scenarios in Stereo” was one of the most solidly constructed songs in my opinion. This song flawlessly flowed from part to part from start to finish with nicely executed hits that added to the dynamic interest.
Up next: “Neon Tetras”. Holy percussion, time signatures and polyrhythms! If this were sped up about 100 bpm we’d have the next psychedelic The Dillinger Escape Plan on our hands. Being that it wasn’t, it was very pleasing and way more digestible then I just made it sound. Think a room full of classy people waltzing and occasionally dropping a beat in sync. With the correct synchronization it would make an amazing music video. Just saying. The addition of percussion in this tune really added a great element to the set.
At this point of the evening the set was unfortunately getting cut short due to time restraints. That said, I shifted my attention from reviewing the show to taking some photos (see below), which is ok because this is known as what us professionals like to call “a cliffhanger”. Hopefully you are left wanting more because I highly recommend seeing these guys first hand! Be sure to hit Truest’s social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Vimeo, along with Noise Collective NY’s: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Cheers,
-Mike Abiuso
