Trans Am
You Can Always Get What You Want
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Trans Am
You Can Always Get What You Want
Thrill Jockey, 2000
RiYL: Kraftwerk, Jimi Hendrix, 5ive Style |
What we're getting on this generous (17-track) CD is a compendium of all the bonus tracks that have appeared on Japanese versions of Trans Am albums. Like several other Thrill Jockey bands -- Tortoise and The Sea & Cake being the most prominent -- Trans Am's albums come out with lots more songs on them in Japan. There was an explanation on the Thrill Jockey web site about why this is once, but I didn't really understand it. I think it was something about exchange rates. And possibly the cosine.
Now, it is little matter, for Trans Am fans at least, for You Can Always Get What You Want compiles all this stuff, and more! (I always wanted to end a sentence, "and more!") Of course, much of this stuff was left off U.S. albums in the first place for a reason. Many of the tracks on You Can Always are simply less well-recorded versions of already widely available Am standards ("Surrender To The Night," "American Kooter," "Love Commander"), or throwaways like "Now You Die, Thriddle Fool" and "Nazi/Hippie Empire." Many of the tracks which appear new, like "Koln" and "Randy Groove," are retitled versions of familiar songs.
That's OK, though. Since the record skews more to the more rocking, guitar instrumental side of Trans Am, it's often more consistent than their records, which sometimes dissolve into bleepfests. The new song "Strong Sensations," with its "Crosstown Traffic" quotes and thrashy climax, is album-quality. If you can acclimate yourself to the difference in production quality between songs, this is a pretty cool record.
You Can Always plays more like an ad hoc Trans Am greatest hits album than any sort of revelatory new collection. As a result, the album will have an oddly divided appeal -- those most interested will be people who have never heard Trans Am before, and those who are hardcore fans. If you're like me and own just one or two of the albums, you might as well complete Trans Am's studio discography before starting in on You Can Always Get What You Want.
Nonetheless, it's to Thrill Jockey's credit that they've made this stuff available domestically so that those who really want it don't have to pay $30 import prices.
MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.