Trigger Effect – What’s Left to Eliminate?

What’s Left To Eliminate?, the 3rd full length release from Montreal’s Trigger Effect dropped on May 1st of this year bringing yet another dose of ferocious post punk to the masses with the help of Indica Records.

This album marks a slight departure from the band’s previous outings; incorporating cleaner vocals, more melodies and a wider range of instruments, including piano and violin. Long time fans need not worry though, because the signature scratching guitars, driving bass lines and aggressive vocal style all remain at the fore of every track. Song-writing wise What’s Left To Eliminate? also ventures into new territory for the band, each track telling a piece of an overarching storyline featuring a (figurative) man’s search for truth and meaning in life.

The album takes you on this journey in some style;  A Genuine Emergency kicks off with an opening reminiscent of the Deftones’ Back to School before the pace is amped up to 11 when the rest of band come crashing in. A Quick Fix, Rope of Guilt and Susceptibility lead our hypothetical protagonist down a (lyrically) dark path before Everything You Once Loved and Held Dear represents a fall to rock bottom in a welcome four minute change of pace before The Power and the Glory and That Vital Force wrap the album up with another journey towards redemption (I’ll leave you to decide for yourself if he gets there).

Overall this album sounds cleaner and tighter than previous outings, something not unexpected for a bands 3rd full album, but the contribution of legendary Canadian producer Ian Blurton cannot be overlooked. Ian, who is well known in Canadian music circles for having worked with bands like The Weakerthans, Tricky Woo, Lowest of the Low and the Rheostatics has smoothed the rough edges off Trigger Effect without dulling any of their sharpness.