Album Review: TRiPS

The self-titled 2024 album TRiPS is the debut release from duo Barnaby Weir and Andy Christiansen. The pair have collaborated with an impressive list of supporting talent to create a psychedelic rock fusion delight. Mixing and mastering is credited to “all round G.C. Lee Prebble” who has channeled the duo’s fun and experimental sound into a ten-track eclectic wonder.

Multi-instrumentalist Andy Christiansen has his moment to shine in opening track Way Of My Flow. The experimental and upbeat track with an 80’s adjacent synth beat and a cheerful harmony lead to a happy and interesting melody. I’m reminded of Aussie pop machine’s The Jungle Giants with the use of synth and harmony combinations.

Up next is one of my favourite standouts on this release, TRiPS, have managed to reinvent a classic and it works. If I weren’t already familiar with Springsteen, I could be forgiven in thinking that this was an original song with how well this fits into the album. I love the choices made for the arrangement; it has a sort of gritty working-class attitude paired with upbeat roll & roll riffs, which is a very fun take. We are also treated to our first slick guitar solo from Christiansen.

A brief but exciting instrumental grabs my attention with track 6’s Cobb & Co. It’s unclear how much inspiration was drawn from the formerly epic restaurant chain (although I hope a lot). However, this iteration isn’t quite as satiating as I remember the 240g sirloin being, clocking in at 1:17 I’m left wanting more from the band. Although this is a very small critique of a riveting track. It is the perfect 70’s acid trip psych number, the layering of a hypnotic and shuffle drum rhythm, distortion, seat grabbing solos from Christiansen.

A mellow trip down the stream next with Afterwards. What a treat, the track is led by spell-binding vocals from Iris Little. The lyrics and the melody of this song are enchanting, it was a treat to slow things down with this soothing number nestled in between the rock and roll.

Drawing towards the end of the album now, Modern Thinking piques my interest. This is more of your summer dazed psychedelic compared to the main flavour of the album, but it still fits right in as a highlight of the album for me. It was safe to say I could never guess what was coming next on TRiPS, yet somehow through the organised chaos it works. It’s hard to summarise Christiansen and Weir’s efforts in one review, they’ve demonstrated mastery of many genres and styles. Presenting both thoughtful lyrics, instrumental dynamism. In their own words “The music is our truth; we ignored any mitigation of the worrying’s of having to fit into a style” – that accurately describes this all-round fun and eclectic endeavour.

TRiPS releases to the world today, 24th of July, 2024.