Released by: Rock Company
Genre: Rock
Links: https://triggermafia.bandcamp.com/
Line Up:
Trigger Mafia is …
Shawn Meehan : lead vocals, background vocals and guitars
Jay Wittur : Bass and background vocals
Rod Senft : Drums and background vocals
Karl Oystensen: Keyboards and background vocals
Tracklist:
1.Find A Better Way
2.Open Road
3.Sittin’ On A Corner
4.Drink What You Drink And Roll What You Roll
5.MFG
6.Devil Woman
7.Great Big Genius
8.Snowflake
9.The Brotherhood
10.Turn It Up
11.YVR
12.Backyard Barbeque
13.Find A Better Way (French)
From out of nowhere comes the Canadian band TRIGGER MAFIA and I am quite overwhelmed by their superb debut album The Brotherhood. They play classic Canadian Melodic Hardrock with a certain late 80s/early 90s style, kinda like classic TRIUMPH, SANTERS, WALL OF SILENCE/THE WORKS, early HAREM SCAREM and CONEY HATCH when hearing the lovely opener Find A Better Way, but there’s much more to discover when we start checking out the rest of the album. What sets them apart from the countless soulless FRONTIERS RECORDS releases is the fact that there is real rock and roll and soul injected in the classic hardrocksound of the band.
It’s just those tiny bits and pieces that makes them sound better than the rest. First of all the band has a wonderful singer called SHAWN MEEHAN (also guitarist) who reminds me a bit of CARL DIXON, while the rest of the band (Jay Wittur : Bass and background vocals, Rod Senft : Drums and background vocals and Karl Oystensen: Keyboards and background vocals) definitely knows how to play rock and roll, and also the guest female backing singers on several songs gives the band a rich classic rocking soulful vibe (just listen to the amazing groovy Sittin’ On A Corner for example!). Despite the 80s references, there is also a lot of 70s Hammond/Classic Rock influences in a song like the groovy Open Road and the aforementioned Sittin’ On A Corner that takes you straight back to the mid-1970s.
The band flirts with those tiny bits of sounds and pieces here and there to make their classic melodic hardrock sound original, diverse and authentic, and this can be heard throughout the whole album. Other highlights are the uptempo classic rocker Devil Woman, the instrumental 70s pomprocking Great Big Genius, the 70s RUSH/TRIUMPH ish classic prog/rocker The Brotherhood Song (which also has a bit of southern rock influences) and the 70s HANOI ROCKS/NEW YORK DOLLS ish glamrocker Backyard Barbeque. Without a doubt, a must-hear band to check out if you want to hear high class original Melodic Hardrock!
Written by: Gabor Kleinbloesem
Ratings: Gabor 8/10
About Author
