THE TRANS MEGETTI MAKE A DIFFERENCE

At the Chelsea, Vienna, 4^th of June 2001

 Good bands aren’t hard to find these days. The vast amount of existing bands alone has increased the number of likeable ones. Furthermore, musical education, freedom and talent has risen while untalented musicians find their luck in other creative genres. Even the standards of DIY-production have risen so far, that not even the smallest band can do without its own website. In other words, it seems as if every talent gets his chance nowadays and you end up with enormous record collections, which are still frightingly and unsatisfyingly inadequate. But that just might be as it is, since the problem is elsewhere. I don’t want just good bands anymore. What I want are extremely, damn good bands. When good becomes mediocre and alternative becomes average you have to find new standards by which to rank your choices.

A damn good band is one that makes a difference, and these are really hard to find. You want to rock out? You want emo-screams or that emo-groove? Stick your hands into the nearest record-bin and you pull one record out by chance – your chances are better than ever before, that you will have found a record that is at least a little better than average (when I was young and all the good records where only available as expensive imports, a little better than average meant the world to me), has a cool design and a good production. But if you want something different, a glimpse into the future, possibly a creative and original thought, you’ll have a hard time.

Now, what do I mean, when I say, I want bands that make a difference? Actually, I mean it in ever sense of the word. Bands that are different to the whole slew of soundalikes. I don’t care if they sound different by accident or if they have a clear vision of what they want to do (even though the later one is a bonus). And I want bands that make a difference to me. That touch me somehow, maybe just because they are good or maybe just because they had the right song / sound in the right moment. Of course, that makes my judgement heavily subjective. But who are we kidding? Taste in music is always subjective. Degustibus non disputandum esse. That’s pig-latin for: don’t talk to people without taste.

Earlier this week I had the luck to experience a band life, that fills out every demand I have made above. Plus, they are nice people. And they know what they do. The Trans Megetti make a difference.

“We work hard on our songs” says Mark Tesi, guitarist and vocalist of the Trans Megetti. Still, the songs come of with such ease, with a flowing groove and they do rock – so no dissatisfaction there. (Here’s a tip: if you want to see a good rock-show, go see them.) On the other hand, they will always surprise you. Musically, that is. Song structures and harmonies, as flowing and as matching as they are, are really careful crafted. There is nothing expectable or foreseeable around here. Watching the people at the show, I saw them waiting for the break to end, for the release and that rock-kick to start the song again (on a completely unrelated note: that is where Limp Bizkit draw their success from – complete satisfaction of expectations) but that is when the Trans Megetti will make the song even slower, more silent, start a different part in a different rhythm or even stop the song altogether. They don’t come in on full measures but rather on half measures. So, no hardcore-finger pointing at their shows, at least until you know all the songs by heart.

The Trans Megetti are constantly working a winding line, spinning around your expectations of how a song should be, but they haven’t forgotten how to play rockmusic with full force and drive. I give them huge points for that. “We work on our songs very hard” says Mark Tesi, “but in the end, this is what we like to play. What we wanted to listen to but no one was playing.” In the end, that is the only way to do it. If you are on the road for five weeks playing the same songs every night over and over again, you’d better like them. A lot. Because it shows during the concert.

When in Vienna, the Trans Megetti hit half-time on their European Tour. The best concerts were in Spain and in Croatia, “where the kids sure know how to party.” But then they said, that Vienna was also good. If you know the Viennese audience, you know how this qualifies the statement.

Maybe some people were surprised, that the Trans Megetti aren’t one of these handsome boy-rock-bands like Bluetip, Braid, you know what I mean. They are older than that, more settled and less stylish. They could draw huge crowds, but I guess they won’t, because they are just that tiny bit too astray from the “alternative mainstream”. That irritates people, especially young people, i.e. the main audience for emo-rock-related music. But irritating people seems to be quite okay with them. Not too much, though. Just as the music, just as the lyrics are a little out of the ordinary, so are the reactions towards their music. “We have been compared to bands like Drive Like Jehu or Hot Water Music. But those are all good bands.” The more outlandish comparisons include Faith No More and the Didjits and even The Smiths, more good bands.

Since it’s too late now to recommend their shows, I strongly advise you to check out their LP “Fading left to completely on” on Gern Blandsten. Or one of their singles. There is a good one that’s called “Soon be seeing you later” – as you can see, they like titles that are open to man interpretations – and some others.

 Austrian hardnoiserockers SENSUAL LOVE played on the same night and it should be mentioned that they laid down quite an impressive wall of noise-guitars, heavy bass and male/female-screamy singing. Unfortunately, the female vocals were too loud, the male vocals too female and the sound a little mushy so they didn’t really live up to the expectations I had formed from their records. Actually, I prefer too turn up their split-cd with Bug on Interstellar records really loud, since this is one of the best Austrian releases I have heard in the last few months. If their records were worse, the concert would have been better? No, that is my problem alone. And since I found myself swinging to the music a few times during their set, they must have gotten me. Yeah, I love noise rock. I grew up on that as mentioned elsewhere. Do you wanna play on my birthday-party?