Troll 2 / Death Magnanimous / June 2018
https://troll2.bandcamp.com/album/death-magnanimous
RIYL: Buffy Sainte-Marie, any fiddlin’, goin’ down to Georgia w/ the devil
There are dark Americana albums, and then there’s Death Magnanimous, the new release by Boston’s Troll 2. You’d be hard pressed to meet a nicer group of folks, but you’d never know it from listening to this album!
They cover all facets of death, from causing it in the course of revenge in “Means and Motive” (example lyrics; “Take a brick to the back of his head, repeat it until he’s dead”), to world genocide in “I Got a Stick,” to acceptance of the inevitable in “Roadkill” (“any happiness you’ve found will someday fade away and leave you empty, buried in the ground.”
Not so ironically, the most uplifting song on the album is the closer, “You Should Think about Death More.” It encapsulates the album in a way that is reminiscent of “Death is Not The End” on Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads. The general message seems to be, “Folks, it’s gonna happen, so just embrace it!”
While darkly themed, these songs are so infectiously catchy that you’ll be tapping your foot and getting them stuck in your head. The songwriting is far beyond your typical folk-punk or bluegrass fare, and the production is crystal clear. (Bonus points for making me look up the word “extirpating!”)
You can find this and all their releases on their webpage at https://www.troll2music.com.
Digital Wheat Paste 