TROST
Trust Me
(Minty Fresh)
Annika Line Trost employs classic dance rhythms including waltzes and tangos for a few tracks on her second solo CD. But given the chilly atmosphere of Trust Me, the dancers in these songs fumble through the dark, finding unsure footing amongst the muddy double-bass, shadowy percussion and queasy melodic passages that rise up like the tension building before a cathartic scare that never arrives.
"Man On the Box" is the creepy little sister to Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand." A similar Bad Seeds tenor gives "The Scales and the Score" the lurching pace of a shackled walk to the gallows. (Longtime Bad Seeds drummer Thomas Wydler guests on Trust Me.)
Trost's frequent use of big, reverbed guitar lines recall American slingers such as Duane Eddy and Link Wray. But in her hands, the twang has dried to a husk -- the greasy sleaze sopped up dabbed away by Trost's undeniably German aesthetic.
So we know now which half of Cobra Killer -- Trost's other musical outlet with her musical partner Gina V. D'Orio -- supplies that duo's frequent nods to early rock & roll menace.
To that end, one of the key ingredients to the intimidating appeal of Cobra Killer is the duo's clear, matter-of-fact singing. That effect carries over with Trost. She's not emoting the way a torch singer, or some trip-hop wailer would. Trost finds the notes, hits them and moves on, providing an open, inviting element to Trust Me.
The contrast works to enhance the album's dark mood and hints of unwelcome things lurking out of sight. Trost is both omniscient narrator and active participant in her own thrill ride.
Reference materials: If you know of Trost, you are already a fan of Cobra Killer and a big fan of Gudrun Gut. Right?
