The New Trust - Get Vulnerable

I'm pretty sure that I first saw The New Trust at Knitting Factory a couple of years ago. I know they were opening, maybe for Small Brown Bike or Hot Water Music, although I venture it would make more sense that it would be Cursive or The Good Life. Either way, I thought they were totally great. I'm still trying to remember whether I saw them first in their three or four piece incarnation. I will argue four, as it was the tour behind the first EP and the record was called We Are Fast Moving Motherfuckers, We Are Women And Men Of Action. Either way, the kids from Santa Rosa kicked a lot of east coast ass that night.

Andrew at Skyscraper sent me the EP soon afterward and it quickly joined the ranks of the records I played to the point of neighbor insanity as well as becoming a staple of my year-end lists/comps. This even after I found out that the band was helmed by a married couple. For some reason, I've missed them on their last couple tours, although truth be told, I'm not sure that they have been this far East. It's a shame, as the band gets better and better with every release. Maybe you missed last year's Dark Is The Path That Lies Before Us, but I sure didn't. Trust me, both of you need to go out and pick that record, if only for the closing You've Got To Be Fucking Shitting Me. Lest you think this is yet another case of post-A.C. 'all title and nothing else' rock, that happens to be the chorus and it rocks.

This year the good folk of The New Trust have bestowed Get Vulnerable on us. While they had previous claimed Slowdance for life, it would appear that their newfound vulnerability now encompasses self-releasing their records. While I admire their entreprenurial moxie, I hope that their ambition doesn't mean that Get Vulnerable falls through the cracks. I would argue that it's their best release yet. It's all in the bridges this time around: even if you were to only make it through the first four songs, you'd leave with your jaw on the floor and your fists in the air. The songs here are good, but the middle eights on these songs are absolutely exceptional. Check out the bridges of Breathe Underwater and Fast Asleep In Her Arms for evidence. Thems is some hooks, kids. Props should go to Matthew Izen for recording Get Vulnerable so well and the same to Matt Bayles for giving it the polish. With all the great songs and amazing production here, it'll be a crime if Get Vulnerable goes unrecognized.

That's not going to happen on my watch. Buy Get Vulnerable from The New Trust here for $8, whether it be download or in tangible form. You can get vinyl and a cd, if you were of a mind, here for $12.

R