Montreal’s Trigger Effect are a well-oiled machine of musical output, constantly producing short, sharp releases. Since their debut was released in 2007, the band have toured constantly, finding the time to spit out a 7”, a 10”, EP and an album, creating the last two in a single one-shot recording session. Their latest effort ‘What’s Left to Eliminate?’ was created in their usual fashion; written, recorded and rehearsed in the stolen moments between their hectic touring schedule. The band’s first ever release in the UK will arrive exactly a week before they hit our shores to tear it up for the first time, and if this effort is anything to go by, it’ll be the first of many visits.
Produced by Ian Blurton who’s worked with The Weakerthans and Cursed, their second full-length is similar to previous effort ‘Dare to Ride the Heliocraft,’ yet manages to pack in songs which are doubly as tense, yet half the length.
Clocking in at just under 25-minutes, ‘What’s Left to Eliminate?’ is a lightening quick gut-punch of a record, with the first six tracks crashing relentlessly into each other sometimes making it hard to decipher where one ends and the next begins. It’s an exhausting effort which gives the album a certain electricity, a feeling of sheer energy which resonates off every line, drum beat and chord. The seventh track, ‘Everything He Once Loved and Held Dear’ is the longest on the album, boasting a two and a half minute intro, and changing the pace of the album completely. With the whole track lasting five minutes, unlike the majority which fall shy of the two-minute mark, it’s paced and deliberate; giving the listener time to catch their breath before the final four songs resume the thrashing chokehold that is the album’s signature.
The sheer intensity of ‘What’s Left to Eliminate?’ means at first listen it seems impenetrable, but after a few repeat plays the individual songs begin to stand out, begging to be replayed. There are no duff tracks or filler on here, Trigger Effect prefer to cut away excess flab, producing a tight, unyielding album.
Trigger Effect will undoubtedly draw plenty of comparisons to The Bronx; both bands have similar vocal styles and aggressive yet catchy songs. There are elements of Refused in ‘What’s Left to Eliminate?’ too, but what separates it from the pack is its emotional chord, a vein of anger and sorrow which makes the bands sound so uniquely compelling.
Overall ‘What’s Left to Eliminate?’ is a solid effort, energetic and enjoyable, miraculously lacking in filler yet offering more and more with every listen. If you take the time to check out one new release this week, you can’t go far wrong with this.
4/5
‘What’s Left to Eliminate’ by Trigger Effect is out on the 27th May on Dry Heave Records in the UK.
Trigger Effect links: Website|Facebook
Words by Jay Sullivan.
