TROLLING FOR ANSWERS

Redrick Sultan is a recent act from Canada who in this 2012 have released their second studio album entitled "Trolling for Answers". This band caught my attention since its name, and later from what I read, I wanted to explore their music. It is nice to mention that since you look to the cover art, you will know there is humor on the band which of course is represented in the songs (some of them, not all). This album consist of seventeen tracks that make a total time of 44 minutes so as you can imagine the songs are short, ranging from 1 to 4 minutes. Though Redrick Sultan is a quartet, here they invited several friends and musicians to add their grain of sand in some passages.

The album opens with "Dance of the Trilobytes" which starts with keyboards making a funny sound, like a fantastic story for kids is being told. Then drums join and together continue with that happy and humoristic sound. "Time Travel" is the shortest track with only 48 seconds. It has a somber atmosphere created by keyboards, while a spoken voice enters and then spacey effects appear, increasing the intensity until vocals enter. When that happens, we are actually listening to "Dinosaurs" which is a very cool song, where a lot of voices sing a catchy chorus at unison. Later sax enters and along with bass and drums creates a kind of jazzy avant-garde tune, very interesting.

"People" starts with a street background, a car can be appreciated, along with some Christmas feeling and some voices. Later it disappears and a new structure is being built, first with a beautiful vibraphone, later with choral vocals, bass and a saxophone. While the seconds pass new elements are being added, such as a great clarinet, and a guitar. This is another excellent track, we just have to let the instruments talk to each other, and the result will be satisfactory. "For Ire" has a soft but dissonant acoustic guitar which later is accompanied by a male voice. The song continues like this, with a kind of desolated feeling. "Law & Order" is a beautiful short piece where guest violin and viola musicians interplay between them, and make the track theirs.

Acoustic guitar in a soft and folkish way starts in "Dream Song", which is a very cute three- minute track where delicate vocals and some strings make us feel with ease, making this dreamy music. "Morning Wood (ft. Panax)" has a friendly piano sound that later with the addition of saxophone creates a jazzy style; then it returns to its original form and surprises us later with the hip-hop like vocals. Though it is not what I would listen everyday, I can say I enjoy this weird combination. It is part of the band's humor, I assume. There are also female vocals in short passages that are intercalated in the track.

A kind of funky guitar appears on "Sandcheck" whose rhythm is fast and dynamic. Here I like the constant drums and the various male vocals that add a very peculiar flavor. After a couple of minutes the music fades out, makes a brief pause and then little by little new sounds are being implemented, like a delicate sax, some distant voices, drums and guitars. So the song is now progressing, increasing the intensity and taking us into a chaotic realm. Later in the last minute the song explodes and creates this kind of jazzy, avant-garde tune. The humor returns in "Three Rabbits Walk into a Bar", which reminds me of The Lord of the Rings, when the hobbits are happy in a bar singing and cheering up.

"Angus Head Wound" has a fast rhythm with great guitar, saxophone and drums making a good musicianship. After that explosive beginning the song slows down, entering into a kind of hiatus where the saxophones put different textures, until a minute later the music returns to its original form, and finishes like that. "Dahlin" has again that folkish tune with acoustic guitar and a delicate voice. "The Minckler" starts with a viola and acoustic guitar, later some distant vocals can be appreciated while a disarming, reflexive and even beautiful sound is created. After a minute and a half that sound disappears and a new structure is being formed, with a bunch of distant vocals and a delicate guitar, but then, all of a sudden it changes and now we are listening to "Trolling for Answers" a one minute track where the voices are different, with higher intensity and with also a sense of humor; the instrumentation of course suits the voices.

"Giraffe Food (ft. Panax)" is the only song that passes the four minute mark.It starst with saxophone, guitars and drums making a sexy jazzy sound, later backing vocals briefly appear and then the lead voice starts singing. The jazz feeling prevails and after a couple of minutes the hip-hop voice appears once again creating this strange, but cool combination. "Genesis Explosion" has a reggae-like guitar, accompanied by warm vocals, drums and nice keyboard background. The music is kind, gentle and sweet, so here we will have a couple of minutes with a soft sound, with viola in the final part and also a cool mandolin solo. The album finishes with "Clouds" which is a disarming yet beautiful track with majestic violin and viola that create a very touching moment.

This is strange album, I mean, it is impossible to pigeonhole the music made by Redrick Sultan, because they surprise us from one song to another. That is maybe they key of their uniqueness.

A different, but quite nice experience!

Enjoy it!