Volt

by

Trip Shakespeare

Edit

These guys were IT! This was the band. Matt and Dan Wilson's voices and guitar riffs twisted around each other like dancing fireflys. John Munson's fretless bass and growling voice were a perfect complement/contrast to the Wilson brother's angelic sounds. Cools as a cucumber Elaine Harris stood behind her upturned bass drum and pounded out the patterns that held this wild artistic sound together.

Dan and John still play great pop music together as Semisonic, but it's just not the same. Matt's solo work (Burnt, White, & Blue - Planetmaker Records) shows that he was the primary source of the "out there" quality that was an important part of Trip Shakespeare's magical chemistry.

"Volt" is the worst example of their work. Their record label (A&M) was failing to support the band because they weren't part of the Seattle "grunge" scene. They sang three part harmony, they played jazz chords, but they were too weird for top 40. They were working harder for less money than before they got picked up by a big label. "Volt" was thrown together as an afterthought when the band was already falling apart. This is just a short collection of recording session left-overs and warm-up tunes that was thrown together to fulfill a contract obligation.

Buy this album, but not until you have all the others...