The Breakdown
Trinket are a fresh new entry into the increasingly growing stir of jangle-pop bands. With their previous singles fusing shimmering, sweet guitar riffs and featherlight dream pop sensibilities well enough to book them for this year’s SXSW, I was excited to see what a fuller length exploration of their sound would be like.
‘New Hobby’ has been described by the band as a natural progression of their songwriting skills and developing musical direction, and I would say I agree. The songs are at their core are glittering, guitar driven joyrides that spur some real jangle-pop nostalgia for bands like Teenage Fanclub and Alvvays, but layered into Trinket‘s new MO are fragments of a dreamy, shoegaze heaviness.
For example the fresh single ‘figure skater’ that careens from an of-kilter lofi languor into a gorgeously resonant, almost baroque chorus that shows lead: M.K. Proffitt’s heartfelt vocals fantastically well. Lyrically bittersweet to the point of being wry, ‘figure skater’ has radio playability with a production aesthetic that is professional without feeling dialled down.
Similarly the extremely sweet: ‘silver thread‘ brings to mind that Cocteau Twins shimmering quality that the band taps into. Trinket can write a good, catchy melody that slots into place perfectly with the complex rhythms of their guitar parts. It’s a very basic element of their songwriting that gives this EP a memorability that I think some other, newer bands of this genre haven’t quite parsed.
It never feels like them trying to create an earworm, or force some tiktok sound virality, it just feels very natural. Almost like you can hear them enjoying themselves creating these songs. The lead track ‘New Hobby‘ does dry out the dreaminess for a dynamic speeding up of the EP’s pace, and includes this amazing, raw second guitar part that gives the track some real momentum.
The band has broached a lot of different approaches to their sound, and ‘New Hobby‘ feels very well developed for a such a short release. With great performances and a production style that is timelessly well realised, it’s fair to say most listeners would get something out of replaying the catchy, fun and versatile fourteen minutes that is this Trinket debut.
They are a band who seem very excited to get the most out of the talents they have for making jangle-pop, without getting into any gimmicks or clichés that have defined the bedroom lofi era that all indie genres seem to be growing out of. I think of this release as an important stepping stone for Trinket and I’m really excited to catch them live on this side of the pond.
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