Seattle firecrackers the Trucks are the latest product of the ever-evolving musical species known as the girl group. The Ronettes cooed amid a wall of sound, the Runaways played loud, the Go-Go's had groupies and the Bangles tip toed back and forth between cheesy 80s rock (“Walk Like An Egyptian”) and earnest ballads (“Eternal Flame”). All of that has trickled down to the Trucks, four “ladies” who talk tough about “tongues” and “titties” while harmonizing sweetly to a set of tunes that do the pop thing so well that they could become the next “She Bop” in the sense that the music is so fun, you don’t even realize how blush-worthy their lyrics are.
In their liner notes, the band thanks “the boys who’ve let us break their hearts”. And, I’m sure there have been plenty because this is a group that sings “you could not keep your pretty hands off me” first as a come-on whisper and then grows it into a taunting dare. The title of the song? “Shattered”. It only helps the Trucks love ‘em and obliterate ‘em mission that lead singer Kristin Marie Allen-Zito can easily channel the cutsey-pie vocals of Susanna Hoffs when she wants to play the coquette - which is most of the time.
The Trucks talk tough, but their music is so full of that frivolous pop feeling, that you can’t completely buy the man eater image. Then again, you don’t want to completely turn your back on a group who can come up with fun little summer ditties like “Old Bikes” whose refrain goes “pedal, pedal, chain metal - you are riding with the devil!”
There’s a lot to love here, but you have to wonder why a few songs (the too-weird “Man Voice” and the overly average “Diddle-Bot”) made it on to the album. The Trucks are the kind of band that hit you at high speed and lay you out flat - they do not need filler material weighing them down. |