Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The point of survival is not to fit in and blend into the crowd, but instead to fly against the continual pattern of migration and be The Stranger who others see as visionary, the figure that radiates the sense of the unfamiliar and the outsider to whom all is possible because they are not tied to the whims of collective fashion and patented dogma.
To let your anchor drift and still catch musical inspiration in the net takes skill, to allow your boat to sit between the oceans that crash against each other in fury and crested waves of perplexation is to show ingenuity, and as the waters of Rock ‘N’ Roll and Country meet in Triggers & Slips’ second studio album, The Stranger, that sense of survival takes on a new meaning, a contemporary figure who sees the separation of the people into factions as verging on the insane. It is always the stranger who sees the fault that divides, and in this album the healing process can be seen to work wonders.
The heady mix of the band, part beautiful anarchy and part solitude of wonder is fulfilled by the creative talent that is far from being a stranger to the initiated, and with Morgan Snow, John Davis, Tommy Mortenson, Greg Midgely, Page McGinnis, Eric Stoye and Kate MacLeod all placing their unique and superb ability over the record, what transpires is a set of songs that frame the idea of refinement and style.
Whilst the listener might know what to expect from the vocals and acoustic guitar of Morgan Snow and his comrades, John Davis and Greg Midgely, it is in the acquiring of new thought, blood and performance that makes the album such a joy to listen to, especially in the presence of Kate MacLeod on the violin during the song Old Friends.
With songs such as Glass Window View, Blue Smoke, I’m Not Your Baby, Dig A Hole, the aforementioned Old Friends and the album title track The Stranger all contributing to the texture and belief of the album, what is highlighted is that you occasionally have to let The Stranger into your home in order to see the world differently, to understand that to blend in is to disappear. A cracking album of perspective and light, delivered in the finest way possible, by a band who stand out.
Ian D. Hall