Thomas Truax with Budgie and Mother Superior - Dream Catching Songs

by Helen Tipping

published: 26 / 5 / 2023

Thomas Truax with Budgie and Mother Superior - Dream Catching Songs

Label: Blang Records
Format: CD

Eccentric but brilliant tenth album from American experimental musician and inventor Thomas Truax, which finds him working with both ex-Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer Budgie as well as Mother Superior, his home made drum machine

Review

Thomas Truax first came to my attention as part of the New York Anti-folk movement, along with Jeffrey Lewis, and Canadians, The Burning Hell. He stood out from the crowd with his mad inventor instruments, and a sound that owed quite a lot to the ‘Twin Peaks’ soundtrack, and which is more gothic than folk. ‘Dream Catching Songs’ is his tenth studio album. It features Mother Superior, his unusual drum machine made from a two bicycle wheel rim and a snare drum, amongst other items, and Budgie, better known as the drummer with Siouxsie and the Banshees, drumming alongside it. He introduces them both during The Anomalous Now, along with ‘The Hornicator’ and ‘Hank the Guitar’ All Truax’s instruments have personalities, and he tells stories of their adventures during his stage show. He’s the only musician I have seen that anthropomorphises their instruments. This album is a mix of styles, as Truax lets his imagination run wild. From the opening track ‘Dream Catching Songs’ with its slow tribal beat, and lullaby lyrics, to ‘The Rock and Roll of Birds and Bees’, and ‘The Fisherman’s Wishing Well Prayer’. ‘Free Floaters’ see him saying goodbye to his parents, following the recent death of his mother. There is even an experimental instrumental, ‘Origami Spy Arrives in Paper Boat’, drawing on percussive sounds with an Eastern Asian sound, and samples played backwards. Having a drummer playing alongside him gives the songs more structure than usual, and does give a certain amount of continuity to the album, with no detriment to the experimental nature of his music. This was a fascinating album, Thomas Truax always comes up with something different that makes interesting listening, and working with Budgie provided a further layer of sound that you don’t usually get with his work. As ever I enjoyed some tracks more than others, particularly the title track, ‘Everything’s Going to be Alright’, and ‘A Wonderful Kind of Strange’, possibly because those tracks were the 3 singles released and I’d already heard them at his gigs embedding them into my subconscious.

Track Listing:-

1 Dream Catching Song
2 Everything Is Going To Be Alright
3 Birds & Bees
4 The Anomalous Now
5 Free Floaters
6 A Wonderful Kind Of Strange
7 Origami Spy Arrives In Paper Boat
8 A Little More Time
9 Big Bright Marble
10 The Fisherman's Wishing Well Prayer