Troumaca – ‘The Grace’

The Midlands is a crowded field these days, but with ‘The Grace’, Troumaca more than hold their own

B-Town has thrown up a lot of worthy music this year – most notably from key players Peace and Swim Deep – and now comes the debut from the band that started it all.

The Birmingham scene was born from nights put on by Troumaca, and based on their debut album they might have the future potential to be the best of the bunch. They don’t do choruses and bombast like Harry Koisser and the boys – they’re a lot more understated than that – and ‘Kingdom’ in particular is more of a groove than a song. Similarly kissed by the rhythms of Tropicália and overtones of dancehall are ‘The Sun’, ‘Ivory’, ‘Layou’ and ‘Lady Colour’, all of which bring the carnival atmosphere as they wash from the speakers with a hypnotic quality.

Pinpointing their influences is a tough task, although as the dubby ‘Lady Colour’ shows, it’s safe to assume they’ve heard at least a few Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry records. Largely, and most impressively, this is a sound that’s theirs. The Midlands is a crowded field these days, but with ‘The Grace’, Troumaca more than hold their own. Andy Welch 7

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories