Last updated on September 12, 2017
Traindodge had one of the earliest slots at the Norman Music Festival, and the opening slot at the Red Room venue. Having reviewed their album On a Lake of Dead Trees at the very beginning of Independent Clauses, I was interested to see what Traindodge had morphed into over the six years since I had heard them.
The guys in Traindodge are an older lot, which surprised me somewhat when they set up their drums/bass/guitar set-up. The Traindodge I knew was heavy…really heavy. They dispelled any uneasiness I may have had when they tore into their first song. Their brand of rock is heavy on dissonance and yelled vocals, but it also features intricate drumming patterns, digital beats, keyboards, and synthesizer backing. These never drop them into kitschy range, though; much like the Appleseed Cast, they use the more melodic elements of their sound as droning backdrops, stabbing asides, and gritty atmosphere.
Their sound was energizing and somewhat mesmerizing; the keys and beats sucked me in, while the guitars, drums and bass pummeled their way in afterwards. These guys can write a rock song, that is for sure.
Another interesting aspect of Traindodge is the fact that they have reached past the point of pretension. They have been doing this for so long that they don’t have to put on a show to make themselves feel comfortable. They could have played to a thousand or half a dozen people (there were about 50 people there, perhaps, by the end), and they would have performed exactly the same. They were having fun, and the fact that they were truly interested and excited in what they were doing for the sake of what they were doing made their set great.
They have a new album coming out at the beginning of June; I would recommend picking it up. Highly recommended for fans of Appleseed Cast, Life and Times, Dredg, Muse, etc.