photo: Heather Mann
Music is a great attitude adjuster and listening to The Tryst can make you a more jovial person. Try on Truth Be Told for size.
With its third studio album, the band has evolved to showcase a more dynamic sound. In the early days, it was a quartet with one horn, Aldy Montufar on trumpet. Now, the group boasts seven members and a horn section.
“With Dara (Holmes, trombone) and James (Ball, saxophone), Aldy can write these really great horn sections,” said vocalist/singer/lyricist Keli Carpenter.
The first track, Yo Mama, definitely flaunts the tasty horns; it also carries killer rock guitar soloing by Aaron Hultstrand.
The second song, Bad Days, is anthemic of the band’s approach to life. As Carpenter put it, “our career as a band, and lyrically, is about optimism and belief in the human spirit.”
Inspired by the craziness the band experienced on a tour, the tune is about dealing with the crap that comes to all of us and is a sweet, groovy piece with delicious tempo changes.
The great arrangements on the album allow all of the instrumentalists to shine. With a lesser band, seven members could get washed out, but with The Tryst it is all beautifully balanced.
This works especially well on Pirate Juice, a sweeping, cinematic track that highlights the rhythm section (Taylor Bungard, bass; Erik Truelove, drums) more than the previous songs.
The album takes an unexpected turn at track five with Transmission Breakdown, very much a throwback to the early 80s, and very fabulous. Another surprise is Waving at Lunatics; the beginning of the instrumental feels like a song to accompany tea and crumpets in an English garden, then it veers wildly off in a total funky rock direction, then into a Dixieland-ish sound, and ends all jazzy rock. It’s cool.
The longest song on the album, Go, has an uplifting and gorgeous gospel vibe to it, complete with a chorus of background singers - Jacob Acosta, Kristen Chandler, Jessika Davis, Alden Hardy, Evy Llyan, Vannessa Lundon and Michael Zimmerman.
The band had to jump through some fiery hoops to get this album released, and listeners will be pleasantly surprised by the band’s evolution from a four piece to a more orchestral, ambitious ensemble. Though not genre-specific, this doesn’t mean they lack a sound, they’ve created their own – and it’s tight, exuberant, interesting and intelligent.
The Tryst celebrates its CD release at The Hut, 305 N. 4th Ave., on Sat, Feb 5. The show also features performances by Evy Llyan, Vannessa Lundon, Roll Acosta, Poi-Zen Fire Troupe and Kristen Chandler Band. The $5 show starts at 8 p.m. Songs from The Tryst’s previous albums are online at MySpace.com/wearetryst.
