My first brush with Royal Trux came from a tape I loaned from the library, which I then dubbed at home. Oh the shame!
Anyway, it was pretty cool and I thought I was pretty cool for liking it. Domino probably consider it something of a coup to be releasing a record by legends like Royal Trux. They tick or ticked all the right boxes. New York, hipster before the word existed, model singer, massive drug habits, etc, etc. If they had been fat and clean and from Burton-on-Trent what then?
They were always at their best when doing their shambolic Stones circa Exile On Main Street routine but this album seems to have taken the shambles a little too seriously, in that they played the gigs this material was culled from without really rehearsing.
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It's not without its highlights as 'Junkie Nurse' kicks things off with some promise and 'Sewers Of Mars' almost dares to sound tight but all too often it feels like the joke's on me.
Of course, this was always part of their appeal. The true spirit of rock n' roll and this comes through loud and clear on 'Waterpark' and 'Blue Is The Frequency' but ultimately this album begs more questions than it ought to. Is this cool? Was it ever cool? The only answer I have is that I was never cool and whilst I feel slightly underwhelmed by this album I do still quite like them.
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