Engineered by Andy Gregg at Phantom Center, Nashville, TN
Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering, Seattle, WA
Images by Beeple used with permission under Creative Commons
Since 2009, Tape Deck Mountain has been making albums that both celebrate and subvert the "shoegaze" tag. True to form, the band's latest album, True Deceiver, pushes new territory. Partly attributable to a refreshed line up in frontman Travis Trevisan's adopted home of Nashville, TN, the songs on True Deceiver are TDM's heaviest, bleakest, and noisiest to date.
Lyrically, True Deceiver reflects a simmering anger finally boiling over--at the world, our leaders, and ourselves. This is not to say True Deceiver is a "political" album, per se—Trevisan seems equally concerned by our increasing screen addiction, as evident in lead single “NOMO.” Rather, True Deceiver does what all TDM albums do: it takes the emotions of the moment and funnels them into layers of guitar, driving rhythms, and earworm melodies.
True Deceiver is the first TDM album to feature the same rhythm section on back-to-back albums--Andy Gregg, who also mixed and engineered the album, on drums, and David Sullivan on bass--as well as the first album to feature a second guitar player other than Trevisan, Greg Harp. The result is a sound that harnesses the energy of four musicians playing together in the same room, a visceral, kinetic attack.
As Tape Deck Mountain's 4th album, True Deceiver is likely to attract listeners from outside the shoegaze paradigm while giving long-time fans plenty of feedback and reverb in which to lose themselves. True Deceiver comes out April 23rd 2021 on Vinyl, Digital, and CD
credits
released April 23, 2021
Travis Trevisan - Guitars, Voice
Greg Harp - Guitars
Sully Kincaid - Bass, Keys
Andy Gregg - Drums, Programming
This might be their best album, and that's really saying something. The songs shift seamlessly from crushing to angelic, and there are enough other dynamics and subtleties at play to keep each song interesting. It's my favorite album of 2020, and I don't see that changing any time soon. steverie
Searching, anthemic post-rock centered around turbulent crescendos and mournful vocal melodies, with tasteful, proggy touches. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 14, 2019