Tram - Kind Of Closure

  by Chris Jones

published: 5 / 6 / 2002

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This is Tram's third full length release and the third time I've reviewed them here at Pennyblack.  Fortunately, I've broken my string of having a breakup to coincide with a Tram release, but that may have something do with why this album hasn't struck me as much as the previous two albums. Like the first two albums, it's a sombre affair at best and maybe even a bit bleaker than that.  It at least seems sparser to me which gives the already desparate sounding vocals of Paul Anderson even more room to fill with sadness and despair.  He has no problem doing this either.  His whispery falsetto vocals deliver a sense of depression, desolation, and sadness that could crush even the lightest of spirits.  The lyrics aren't just sad. They are defeated. The pedal steel guitar and female backing vocals on "A Painful Education' and "Forgive Me Dear" make them two of the more upbeat sounding songs, but one could hardly call either happy sounding.  Even the loud burst of horns that wake up the title track don't manage to shake off the sadness - they just accentuate the sense that everything is falling apart.  The one song I can listen to without feeling somewhat sadder afterwards is 'Only Then'. This song is like the musical equivalent of the smile on Kevin Spacey's face at the end of 'American Beauty'.  It's relief through total surrender. I can't say that this album breaks any new ground for Tram, unless that ground is full of sparseness and desolation.  Tram has shown us twice before that they can make some incredibly sombre songs and now they've done it a third time.  The effect is probably a bit diminished because of that. Still, if you are in the mood for feeling down or if you want to know what tundra would sound like, then this album should fit the bill perfectly.

Track Listing:-

1 Three Years
2 Forlorn Labour
3 A Kind Of Closure
4 A Painful Education
5 Theme
6 Forgive Me Dear
7 Fools
8 Only Then
9 The Hope Has Been Taken Away
10 You Let Me Down
11 Understand

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