A towering full stack stands alone in a winter-worn forest of New England. Dead branches have routinely fallen in a seasonal battle of survival, but the amplifier remains. The cover of the album is simple, but it sends a message of solidity. Transistor Transistor, four New Hampshirites on Level Plane Records, add to their repertoire with their second full-length, Ruined Lives. Unable to tour in support of their album because of an unexpected appendicitis, the band must be itching to perform their new material. The eleven songs won't ruin your life, but, because you've got to turn up the volume to fully appreciate them, they might ruin your shitty stereo speakers.
"Morning Sickness" welcomes listeners to the album with a fast pace and ends with monstrous force; the last eleven seconds sound twice as loud as the rest of the song. After hearing the opening track, I was intrigued by Transistor Transistor's use of quieter dynamics in the midst of a hailstorm of hard rock. The next two songs, "The Price of Gasoline" and "Brass Bones," display straightforward song writing with nothing that truly stands out.
"Pillar of Salt" trudges through two minutes of distortion, fades away to feedback, and comes back heavier than before with the same trampling rhythm. "The Ghost Hand," a crawling intermission in the middle of Ruined Lives, leads into the subdued intro of "Harvest." The song keeps a slower pace than most of the tracks on the album, but doesn't forfeit any of its "rock." A quieter part appears and holds the song together nicely while acting as a build-up to the resonating end. "Irreversible" features a more cathartic section than that of "Harvest" and an anthemic, lengthened finish.
Ruined Lives kept me interested, but a few of the songs slipped by without showing any defining characteristics. These songs aren't bad, they just get forgotten in the mix of more diverse cuts. Transistor Transistor's sludgy rock concoction won't fail you if you're searching for a solid collection of loud, driving and punchy songs. Ruined Lives is straightforward and forceful.
