It’s been 8 long years between releases for Beijing post punk stars Re-TROS (Rebuilding the Rights of Statues). To make up for lost time, Re-TROS have released a couple of killer teaser tracks online ahead of their album, Before the Applause gets released mid-September. To say that we’re excited is somewhat an understatement.
With a career spanning 13 years and 2 albums under their belt, Re-TROS encapsulates something so simple yet so rare in our age of mass media content: quality over quantity.
Re-TROS’ Bandcamp page shows off 4 tracks off the upcoming album Before the Applause. One song that we can’t get out of our heads is the frenzied Red Rum Aviv. A 5 minute jigsaw of synths, driving guitars, rolling drum beats and breathless vocals.
What the song delivers is the band’s past 8 years of honing their live performance. With regular appearances at music festivals in China, America and a recent US tour with Xiu Xiu, Red Rum Aviv captures the veracity, energy and chemistry between the trio. (*hint* please come play in Australia).
Drawing on stories read from the Stanford Prison Experiment, Red Rum Aviv captures a disconcerting urgency and dancefloor ready energy. A frenzied battle between bassist Liu Min’s cry spelling V-I-V-A M-U-R-D-E-R and a manic flurry of interjecting sound layers, the interplay between live instruments, male and female vocals and electronic soundscapes. Dynamic, intense and relentless, it’s what makes this band so enduring and captivating.