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The Tracys – Welcome to the Land of Nothing
| June 15, 2023 | Shotgun Nature Records |
| Album | Digital | 14:58 | 8 tracks |
| Punk Rock / Pop Punk | Brooklyn, NY, USA |
A Goodbye to Remember
All things come to an end: the world, an all-you-can-eat buffet, and the active time of bands and artists. Let us not talk about those stories that ended sadly, and begin with a good comparison instead. French Noise and Post Punk band Decibelles disbanded some time between 2019 and 2021. Short time after, they returned in a new line up, with a new name, and their amazing self-titled album Irnini Mons. But important is what Decibelles from Lyon did before they became Irnini Mons: they released their best longplayer Rock Français.
This article is about a very similar story. Because although Larry Mancini (bass), John Payne (guitar) and Matt Ernst (drums) have recently released the selftitled debut album as The Sparkles, they have nevertheless published one final album as The Tracys. As a quartet, together with vocalist and guitar player Dave Klym they recorded Welvome to the Land of Nothing.
Of Modern Day Bullies and Wastelands
Welcome to the Land of Nothing is set in a world that we know very well – it’s our good old friend Planet Earth. In their eight new songs, The Tracys tell of oppressors, of people who actively accelerate the doomsday clock, of social injustice, and of the new Cold War. So basically, Welcome to the Land of Nothing is a legit zeitgeist document. But if you expect some gloomy and melancholic Post Punk or Darkwave considering the choice of topics, you are barking up the wrong tree.
Make the last Dance be a Moshpit
It may be the last dance on a burning planet to The Tracys are inviting us here, but then it is a wild and fun moshpit. Furthermore, it might be the last release by The Tracys (aside from rumours about an unreleased and lost EP from 2018 which may magically reappear some day). But Welcome to the Land of Nothing is far from being a tear-jerker. Instead, The Tracys go wild and present a heavy wrecking ball made from (Pop) Punk and Rock’n’Roll. Apart from the mid-tempo song Candy from a Baby and the Ramones tribute A Soviet Mistake, the album contains solely bangers. The Tracys mock the leaders and bullies of the modern world, kick butts, and spread tons of joy.
8/10 Mangoes
All pictures by courtesy of The Tracys
