Well that sure didn't take very long! Back in March, I mentioned that The Trouble Seekers were hoping to connect with a like-minded record label and do a full-length album release. Ruined Records ended up being that label, and the band's self-titled full-length release is now on the street! This duo made up of Kevin McGovern (The Prostitutes) and Hillary Burton (honeychain, The Pandoras) continues to prove there's plenty of room for originality and innovation in punk rock. Seriously: there's nothing out there in the world of music that sounds quite like this band's blend of synth-punk, dark new wave, dystopian soundtrack, and post-modern rock and roll.
Shockingly, this is the first 12" vinyl that McGovern has released since The Prostitutes' Can't Teach Kids Responsibility came out 25 years ago. He shared with me that The Trouble Seekers, in some warped way, feels like the proper follow-up to Can't Teach Kids Responsibility. Way back in 1998, he was envisioning a new direction for The Prostitutes that would have involved the addition of synthesizer, female vocals, and moody tempos. Lacking the right collaborators to make this happen, he put this vision on hold and never really got it back until last year when he and his friend Burton decided to make music together. And once these two got together, everything clicked. McGovern and Burton work perfectly together — not just as co-vocalists but also as complementary creative forces. The Trouble Seekers' 15-track debut album retains the snarl, sharp edge, and pure intensity of The Prostitutes' recordings. But it moves that energy in new and exciting directions. The Trouble Seekers are moodier, stranger, and far more experimental than even the later Prostitutes were. Yet this isn't just experimentation for experimentation's sake. This is creativity without restriction in fulfillment of a vision. These are your most troubling nightmares set to music you can dance to on the apocalyptic ruins.
So here we have the record that Kevin McGovern wanted to make 24 years ago. Would the world have been ready for this in 1998? Would he have been ready for this? I'm usually lukewarm on the whole idea of synth-punk, and perhaps that's because it rarely comes out this good. These tunes, while definitely "out there," are exceptionally well-crafted and sneakily tuneful. And I like that I'm hearing two familiar voices coming together to create something that's even more than the sum of its parts. Sometimes leaning more punk rock ("Beautiful Doom," "Falling in a Dream," "Cruel Summer"), other times leaning more new wave ("Out of Order," "Endless City"), and other times adhering to no conventions whatsoever, this album manages to be informed by new wave era reference points even as it drags them kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. A case in point are the album's two cover songs: hyper-imaginative re-workings of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore" and Madonna's "Borderline" that will just about blow your mind. Priced right at just 15 bucks plus postage, this face-melting debut from The Trouble Seekers can be yours if you hit up the Ruined Records web site!
https://thetroubleseekers.bandcamp.com/album/the-trouble-seekers
https://www.instagram.com/thetroubleseekers/
https://www.facebook.com/TheTroubleSeekers/
https://www.ruinedrecords.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ruined_records/
https://linktr.ee/thetroubleseekersband
https://ruinedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/s-t
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