The Trousers Track By Track Run Down of Their Album 'Necessary Evil'
Hungarian rockers The Trousers continue their surge with the release of their explosive album, Necessary Evil. We exclusively checked in with band and asked them to give us a track by track breakdown of the album:
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
I like to talk about the music more than the “message” of the lyrics. Of course the lyrics are always meaningful, just like in this one, which reflects on the conflicts of the intimate life. But let’s see the music! This is a fast punkish song, an ideal opening track. A typical The Trousers song: the riffs hit hard, but the vocal is very melodic. We follow the footprints of Thin Lizzy, 70’s Cheap Trick, Aerosmith or The Hellacopters in here: every song has top be a hit, but every song gotta have hard guitar riffs.
RESTLESS IN PEACE
The title is based on some playing with the words: who is gone that will rest in peace (RIP) but I bet I never will! The riff, somebody said, is very Michael Schenker-ish. I love UFO! This was the first song that came into being for this record. Very melodic, the vocals are layered: I tried to learn something from Jerry Cantrell in the previous years. We try to solve it with female vocals, and it gives the songs a bit of a southern rock feeling. This is new for us, just like the more massive sound. The slide guitar solo in the middle is unusual.
SECOND HAND SUICIDE
That was the first single of this record. It starts with a slow, threatening intro, like for example “Hells bells” by AC/DC, than it busts out with a heavy riff in drop D. This song is sad but not depressive and full of power, which makes it sound so heroic. A Canadian rock radio called it “an instant rock classic”.
LAURA PALMER
This is the favorite song of our drummer Sam. The heavy garage rock riff and the doubled snare might remind you of MC5, who we supported in Budapest back in 2018. The rest of the song is different, especially the solo part with some minor scales included. The title, of course is a reference to the deaf beauty of Twin Peaks, although the lyrics are not directly refer to the story. A bit mysterious.
CONDEMNED TO BE FREE
This title is coming from philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: you are fully responsible for yourself, no excuses! The music is a midtempo monster with acoustic guitar and fuzz-like tones, a bit reminds me of US alter-rock giants Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. We all love them, especially our guitarist Pete. A hypnotic tune but not really for playing live.
NECESSARY EVIL
The title track- we put everything together in this song: AC/DC, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin – the best of the 70’s. But of course its more than the sum of its parts: a real The Trousers composition again with female vocals in the refrain, a southern rock vibe. In a good song there is always a bit demonic – that’s what the title refers to, but also the fact that when you go through hard times it will make you stronger and integrated after a while.
FACE FROM THE SUN
A typical The Trousers composition: fast, Motörhead-like tempo and riffing, but the refrain is rather similar to a 60’s beat or psychedelic garage rock piece. It’s fun to surf between the genres, and create something unusual. I also like the solo part – there is only bass and drum underneath the guitarsolo in the fist part – its also so 60’s and early 70’s, when there was only one guitarist in the bands: Cream, Hendrix, Zep, Sabbath, ZZ Top…
FALL FROM THE PAIN
This is the tune when the psychedelic blues is coming in: slow tempo, slide guitar and harmonica. There was no song with harmonica in our catalogue before. It’s a complex song for a garage rock band like us, but it also shows that we cannot be forced into one category or sub-genre. It’s rock that comes form the 70’s but breathes in the 2020’s.
ON THE RIVER AGAIN
I think that over the past 15 years our style was crystallized: every song has to be a potential single, every song must have a killer riff and every song has a catchy refrain. This song is a prototype of this approach, although it doesn’t have one, but two refrains one after the other. That’s why its so special. One of the greatest tunes of album, one of the greatest songs of The Trousers. And the bridge is almost indie-rock like, for example Interpol. Bring everything together that you love and create something unique.
DRIVE ME TO THE STARS
The finale of the album is also special. I had a dream of my late brother who passed four years ago due to ALS. He was a great musician. In my dream I met some homeless people in the US who told me they were keep praying to the Lord to drive them back to the stars and finish their suffering. In the dream I clearly heard the refrain of the song. Two decades ago with our band The Rag Doll we had a song with the same title, and I included a part of that song into this – so I wrote this song together with my brother in the end. The end of the song gets fast and furious – a long guitar solo that releases the pressure. I think it’s an epic finale.
