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ROYAL TRUX

Royal Trux

Twin Infinitives - 2024 Reissue

    Originally released in 1990, Royal Trux’s ‘Twin Infinitives’ is being re-issued in all its (yet to be translated) alien glory, by Fire Records. A dismantled overture that sprawls out over two records, an avant-garde masterpiece that was the spark for Drag City Records and generations of new sound seeking musicians.

    Hailed in the same immortal breath as Beefheart’s ‘Trout Mask Replica’, the Velvets’ at their frenzied peak and Ornette Coleman at his most avant-garde, the duo of Pussy Galore’s Neil "Michael" Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema recorded ‘Twin Infinitives’ while imbibing all kinds of mind-altering substances to create an inadvertent blueprint for what the duo was building with moog’s, guitars and melodicas to name a few ingredients.

    It is the legendary second album from the masters of the genre mashup - long before “genre mashups” even existed. Arguably, the term “mashup” was coined to describe what Trux, as they subconsciously scrolled through the radio stations of their lives.

    The album’s chaotic sound and offbeat construction laid the foundations for a string of Royal Trux albums that spiralled between genres, tunings, and noise. Through the 90s they would re-invent the rock ‘n’ roll ethic, straddle alien surf music, re-align boogie rock, not to mention 80s hair metal, and confound critics by their wildly meandering and courageous rites of passage.

    Remastered as part of a career spanning catalogue deal with Fire Records. The infamous and influential duo of Jennifer Herrema and Neil Hagerty will be delving into the archive with a comprehensive reissue series, unearthing the vaults and revisiting what made them such a compelling benchmark for their contemporaries and imitators. Reawakening their prolific output within a new monochrome vinyl series covering 1988-1993, they begin with their seminal deconstructed rock masterpiece Twin Infinitives.

    “Sounding like a subway ride inside a television inside an earthquake inside the end of the world and a pounding death rhythm of apocalyptic now.” Pitchfork

    TRACK LISTING

    Disc One
    A1 Solid Gold Tooth
    A2 Ice Cream
    A3 Jet Pet
    A4 RTX-USA
    A5 Kool Down Wheels
    B1 Chances Are The Comets In Our Future
    B2 Yin Jim Versus The Vomit Creature
    B3 Osiris

    Disc Two
    C1 (Edge Of The) Ape Oven
    D1 Florida Avenue Theme
    D2 Lick My Boots
    D3 Glitterbust
    D4 Funky Son
    D5 Ratcreeps
    D6 New York Avenue Bridge

    Royal Trux

    Royal Trux (RSD24 EDITION)

      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

      IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.






      Royal Trux

      Cats And Dogs

        Cats and Dogs, the fourth Royal Trux album, was originally released in 1993 to critical acclaim; it was also the first indication that Royal Trux could do more than whip up a tornado of distortion. A little less focused than Thank You, it still has its moments of splendor, especially when it sounds as though it's going to fall apart and, suddenly, comes back together

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Teeth
        2. The Flag
        3. Friends
        4. The Spectre
        5. Skywood Greenback Mantra
        6. Turn Of The Century
        7. Up The Sleeve
        8. Hot And Cold Skulls
        9. Tight Pants
        10. Let's Get Lost
        11. Driving In That Car (with The Eagle On The Hood)

        In the 1990’s Royal Trux established themselves as one of the greatest rock groups of that hallowed era. With albums of extrasensory scope ranging from 1990s Twin Infinitives (which belongs to the special category of albums whose impact may take decades to be measured), to 1993’s Cats and Dogs (with its seamless blend of classic roots, grunge, and punk) to 2000’s Pound for Pound (inhabiting a well-worn coat of southern hard-rock boogie), they reinvented the group concept born with the Rolling Stones (whose music inspired the duo with a definitive template with which to fuck), accepting nothing less than “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll band” as an opening proposition!

        Jennifer Herrema (vocals, moog, guitar, melodica, sticks and stones, pots and pans) and Neil Hagerty (vocals and guitarist) were both in the Washington, D.C. area where they met and, as teenagers, formed Royal Trux while living in an abandoned warehouse space near the New York Avenue bridge a few miles from Union Station. The name was an evocation of their omnidirectional headspace and abilities — plus, Jennifer grew up skateboarding, moving to roller skating after removing the trux and wheels off her board grafting them onto a pair of skates, giving her an unequaled ability to maneuver . . . even then, it was all about the TRUX. The idea was to play with what little equipment and resources they had and make the most of it by starting musically with the simplicity of blues progressions. The blues also happened to fit the bill for a band called “Pussy Galore” that recruited Hagerty to fill the position of guitarist and tutor (teaching them all how to play the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street album) in exchange for money, equipment and a place to stay in New York. The move to NYC (Jennifer into the YMCA, Neil with the band) was fortuitous, but the perceived similarities between the two acts weren’t much beyond initial chord progressions and of course the unmistakable sound of Hagerty’s unparalleled guitar style. The Trux walked a different talk, one with a more elusive, at times counter-intuitive attitude. Hagerty and Herrema were by nature loners, drug abusers and intellectuals; they stood out among the many art school “bands” in NYC in the late 80s. Playing with a revolving cast of freaks, fellow-travelers, and influences allowed them to discard the tradition of a “band” with “members.” Listening to the records nobody else cared to play anymore, they chose to stake out a post no-wave stance shot through with aspects of classic New Yorkia — Godz, Lovin’ Spoonful, Lou Reed and Television all fit the bill — sifting it through in a personal manner that eventually became known as the “lo-fi” genre. In this tactile fashion, they gained notoriety for their unconventional music and ideas, presenting themselves at live shows and elsewhere with an aesthetic marked by indifference and debauchery.

        Royal Trux’s first tangible music releases were a song credited to them on Pussy Galore’s Right Now LP (“Fix-It”) (1987) and two tracks, “Luminous Dolphin” and “Cut You Loose,” (1988) on a ROIR cassette compilation . . . but it was the end of 1988 that saw them release their own, self-titled LP for not much more than $500. With no label or distribution in place it was the music that propelled their trajectory (not money, nepotism, or connections) — this was what it took to launch new beginnings in the music world/landscape at that time. Not long after, Drag City and Domino came calling, and an attempt to dominate worldwide was undertaken. Up through 1995, via several records, tours, a film (What is Royal Trux?) and a relentless promotion campaign (including placing their “art” as TV adverts on the sci-fi network and others), their portfolio expanded, leading to a contract with Virgin Records, who evaluated them to be necessary listening on a big-time level. It could only have been done with fresh eyes and ears and the understanding that new realms of possibility could be accessed by Truxian imagination and vision.

        After signing with Virgin in 1994 for a three-album stint, Royal Trux began calling themselves the “World’s Greatest Royal Trux Boogie Band.” Who could argue with that? Few even knew what it meant. After the Virgin albums they returned to Drag City with a diverse series of sounds on Accelerator, Veterans of Disorder and Pound for Pound. As always, they were open for business and taking offers, confronting the world from where they stood on the street, and seeking to jack it for all they could. Over a decade has passed and the pair’s music continues to sound just as progressive, vital, and confounding. Beyond the genre-setting and –defying music and the genius of Hagerty’s playing, they were fronted by a willfully non-archetypal female singer whose stance became it’s own archetype over the years, as the world caught on to the need for a new breed. Subsequently, a generation of females looked to Jennifer Herrema for inspiration, emulation and commodification.

        When they finally parted ways- following the release of Pound for Pound in 2000 - they did so just as they do everything: spectacularly. Their hiatus lasted 15 years, with little to no communication between them in the interim. It was to their fans enormous surprise - and delight - that they announced a run of new shows in 2015. Shortly after the release of their live album Platinum Tips + Ice Cream in 2017, they inked a new deal with veritable Mississippi indie Fat Possum. As part of that deal, earlier recordings from Royal Trux were reissued, many of which had been absent from streaming services. With the catalog readily available, and the appetite for the live shows undiminished, Jennifer and Neil recorded White Stuff - their first new material in in 19 years- on the industrial fringes of Los Angeles in the summer of 2018. The new music delivers all of the intoxicating alchemy one would expect from Royal Trux. Their lengthy recording break has done nothing to diminish their visionary, visceral intensity and enduring influence.

        Royal Trux have done as much to define the look, attitude and sound of rock & roll as any other group in the rock & roll era. This is due to their Bitches Brew approach: “everything in the pot whether you like it or not,” deriving from world music, punk rock, jazz, metal, electronic, southern, teeny-bop and all the rest. In the tradition of the blues, through appropriation and evaluation, Royal Trux changed the way we think of music — it is no surprise that their Truxian language has been further absconded with and recited uncredited for years. Such organic perpetuation only happens with original thought worthy of its own definition. This was and is Royal Trux: innovators and dedicated lifers among the sounds they love. Odds are, whether you know it or not, if you find yourself reading this you’ve been touched by Royal Trux. But only in the right places! 


        STAFF COMMENTS

        Barry says: From snarling, grungy numbers to propulsive punky drive, Royal Trux have always made their own mark on the world of music, and this, their newest material in almost 2 decades is as visceral and relevant as it's ever been. Superb.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. White Stuff
        2. Year Of The Dog
        3. Audacity #2
        4. Suburban Junkie Lady
        5. Shoes And Tags
        6. Sic Em Slow
        7. Every Day Swan
        8. Whopper Dave
        9. Audacity #1
        10. Under Ice

        Royal Trux "Live"

        Platinum Tips & Ice Cream

          ‘Platinum Tips + Ice Cream’ is new from Royal Trux.

          The songs were written over a span of time as wide as eagle’s wings but the recordings are new, live, unrehearsed and were presented in real time to a few thousand people in California and NYC.

          Performance art? Yes! But only because, unlike so many other aural ‘content providers’, Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema are true artists writing their own futures into the present. This was, and will always be, Royal Trux.

          TRACK LISTING

          Junkie Nurse
          Sewers Of Mars
          Red Tiger
          Sometimes
          Mercury
          Esso Dame
          Deafer Than Blind
          Waterpark
          Platinum Tips
          The Banana Question
          Blue Is The Frequency
          Ice Cream


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