Prolific Memphis musician Alicja Trout follows the messy dissolution of her great band the Lost Sounds with Tronic Blanc (Dirtnap, Grade: A-), an ostensible solo album recorded under the name Black Sunday. Where Troutโs most high-profile non-Lost Sounds project, Mouse Rocket, has been an outlet for more straightforward pop and rock sounds, Black Sunday is essentially a continuation of the Lost Sounds sensibility: new-wave/no-wave guitar and keyboard exchanges, dark subject matter, a sense of trying to overcome a pervading paranoia.
That ex-bandmate Jay Lindsey appears on a couple of tracks (drums on โThe Picture Looks So Smallโ and drums and guitars on โMosquitoesโ) suggests some of these songs may have been intended for a next Lost Sounds album that never happened. Trout plays most of the rest of the instruments on the record, and the switch from a band dynamic to a solo one results in the loss of musical fireworks youโd expect.
Though Tronic Blanc lacks the interpersonal struggle that made last yearโs Lost Sounds such a sonic high, the solo route offers its own rewards. For instance, this sounds like a much more personal record than what Trout proffered in previous musical incarnations. How much the songs on Tronic Blanc are directed toward Troutโs ex-bandmate(s) is a bit of guesswork psychoanalysis Iโd rather not engage in, but the โyouโ that Trout addresses in these songs seems more specific than the mass societal clones targeted in so many Lost Sounds songs.
โI cut my arms for you/And then I cut my scars for you ย yeah baby I can take the torture/Hey baby, I can bleed for you,โ Trout sings on โTorture Torture,โ picking up the same lyrical trope a few songs later on โTake the Bad and Make It Turn Goodโ: โI cut my scars for you/And then you walk away/You broke the Golden Rule/So what more can I say/Waste of time and waste of tears.โ
This break-up-record content dovetails with a longtime Lost Sounds concern: losing oneโs individuality. But where previously the fear seemed to be that of pressured conformity, on Tronic Blanc it seems to be one of voluntary emotional shutdown. You can hear it on โThis Heart Is Now Aluminum,โ which begins with Trout looking back to a better day: โYesterday, I held your hand/I was a human who understands.โ The theme is continued on the very next track, โModulated Simulatedโ (the albumโs lone cover, from indie obscurity Digital Leather), where Trout sings, โIโm not a machine/But I donโt feel pain/Will you turn me on?/Would you help me sing?โ
Trout puts this potential downer of a song-cycle across with the musical acumen weโve come to expect. The whiplash, menacing keyboard riff and theatrical shriek of a vocal that launches โYouโre Gonna See Meโ gives way to a ghostly, orchestral coda.
The albumโs penultimate track, โOn the Way Downtown,โ offers the albumโs brightest music and most open-hearted vocal, but even it isnโt totally without menace: โThat Mississippi is a life-stealing monster/And I would die if you were washed away/Donโt go/Donโt go to the river by yourself,โ Trout pleads to a โyouโ that seems to inspire considerably more affection. It could be a new beginning or just a memory of better times.
Lynn Cardonaโs Lovinโ You (Knockdown South; Grade: B+) also addresses songs of romantic complication to an unnamed โyou,โ but it has less to do with sorting through the wreckage than pining for an unrequited object of affection. โI ainโt got nobody baby, no one to hold me tight ย The only man I ever loved/Never loved me/Thatโs all right,โ Cardona sings on the lead track, โOver You.โ
A jazz-schooled vocalist who has been performing live locally for the past few years, Cardona incorporates elements of soul, rock, and hip-hop (her scat vocals sometimes erupt into full-blown raps) into the mix on this debut and comes off sounding more than a little like a Bluff City Jill Scott. Sheโs helped along with the able support of a backing band where Jonathan Wiresโ acoustic bass and Paul Morelliโs occasional horn fills particularly stand out. The album was recorded at Jimbo Mathusโ Clarksdale Delta Recording Service and released on his Knockdown South label.
Having gone national on a Chiliโs television commercial since his last local album, Memphis harmonica king Billy Gibson returns to the blues on the new eponymous release from The Billy Gibson Band (Inside Sounds; Grade: B). Having established his softer, more sophisticated side on earlier solo releases, here Gibson is joined by backing band David Bowen (guitar), James Jackson (bass), and Cedric Keel (drums) for what amounts to a honking session with Gibsonโs โMississippi saxophoneโ placed front and center, though Gibson also does double-duty as singer. The opening โDown Homeโ could be the new Beale Street theme song, but the highlights are the slinky, funky โHome at Last,โ the Staxlike โLove Everybody,โ and the Mose Vinson cover โTell It Like It Is.โ
