It was SxSW a few years back and I had just seen TR/ST for the third time. Having exchanged pleasentries side stage at Mohawk and in passing during the week, I worked up the nerve to ask for a quick portrait. His immediate response was, “No.” Magical moment. Right?
TR/ST, aka Trust, aka Robert Alfons, has captivated mindshare since I happened across “Candy Walls” six years ago. I think I listened to it seven times, over and over. It led the way for the record TRST in 2012 that still gets pretty heavy rotation in my house. It has been three years since Joyland and it is about time for a new track. And here it is. I planned on making this part of a have a nice weekend post, but it is too good. Maybe I was just tired and brain-fried when I listened to it yesterday, but damn. He tells Fader that “Bicep” is about “…the struggle between accepting and resisting shame, as well as an expression of sexual fantasies.” Perhaps, but this is brilliantly dark and danceable, just as you’d expect with that familiar edge lurking in the waveforms.
We’ll be waiting impatiently until 2018 for the new record.
Some tunes you just want to listen to in solitude, keeping them to yourself. It sounds to me like this Wilt track falls into that vein, particularly with the way the vocals are recorded…almost whispered through your speakers. There’s an accumulation of atmospherics that swirl above the guitar line in the middle, blissfully drawing you deep within the song. I kind of picture Wilt opening up for Pinback…same vibe, only softer and more introspective. Look for the debut LP Hand Mirror via Good Cheer Records on August 4th.
This may be yesterday’s news, but when a band that delivers a debut album that’s full of pop hits and then follows up as triumphantly as 
I don’t know about you, but when I step outside to an oven breeze and an oppressive sun all I want to listen to is hazy rock and roll. Good thing 
