LP REVIEW: keep on rockin’ in the beer world, with Triggerfinger, What Grabs Ya? (2008)
EXCELSIOR RECORDINGS, EXCEL96154, GATEFOLD, HOLLAND ISSUE, 2008
ARTIST
This band is a Belgian and regional success story. They played a lot of festivals in Holland, Belgium, Germany, and many other countries in Europe as well as the ROW, and are/were considered to be a great live act. They were very popular, especially in the Benelux countries, about 15-20 years ago. Until Ren from RAW MUSIC Store handed me the album I never heard of this band, so I was interested to discover their music.
Triggerfinger was (is?) a rock band from Lier, Belgium, formed in 1998. The band members are vocalist and guitarist Ruben Block, bassist Paul Van Bruystegem and Mario Goossens on drums. In 2012 they won four Belgian Music Industry Awards.
It looks like their last album came out in 2017. Their last tour appeared to have been in 2019. Ruben Block released a solo album on May 2021. The last post on the band’s Twitter page dates from May 2019. It looks like they will be playing a few rock festivals in Holland later this year but their own website oddly states ‘no upcoming concerts booked’! Not being particularly familiar with the Benelux music scene anymore, I am not sure what the recent story about this band is. Anyway, they appear more or less active even though their marketing may need an upgrade 🙂
LABEL
Excelsior was founded in Amsterdam in 1995. In 1996 they were bought by MCA with the aim to release alt-rock albums in the Benelux. In 2001 the label acquired a distributor in the US, SureFire Recordings. The label was later acquired by V2 Records. They are still a very active label with lots of artists on their books.
KNOWLEDGE NUGGETS
/1\ Triggerfinger was the support act for the Rolling Stones at their Hyde Park concert in London, in July 2013. They also toured with Thin Lizzy and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
/2\ In 2012 they performed at Vladimir Klitschko’s heavyweight boxing title defense against Tony Thompson. Today, Klitschko is the mayor of Kyiv (Ukraine)!
/3\ Initially the label’s founder, Ferry Rosenboom, wanted to call his company Electrolux, with as motto, ‘Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux’! This idea was rather quickly abandoned after the company that made vacuum cleaners under that same name, sent them a rather strongly worded legal cease and desist letter 🙂 – I am not making this up – read it in a Dutch language interview way back in 2008.
MUSIC
Side one is pretty much a wall of sound of overdriven power chords, which does sound impressive but somehow I felt the songs became a bit monotonous. Maybe it was the vocals, they were good with real drive and tension in them, but perhaps a little too similar in expression. Side two is much stronger as the band lets the music breath more, starting out with the excellent opening track Is it, and maintaining that heavy rhythm and combining it with some blues rock qualities. It certainly held my attention. As was the case with the tune Lines, clocking in at 7:44m, which cleverly combines heavy with subtle. Overall much more variety on side B than side A I found.
I guess this band is great as an opening act for some of the A-listers – they can certainly play but at the same time are unlikely to upstage the main act. Imagine the unfortunate souls whose management booked Led Zeppelin as an opening act! And yes, that did happen in 1969. Anyway, I mention Led Zeppelin because Triggerfinger has a bit of classic rock sound in them, it’s in the vocals, drumming, and some of the overall feel. It’s a good thing.
Having said all that, it took me a few listens to get into the album. Upon reflection, I recommend starting with the B-side. It’s more interesting and varied with more blues rock and open tunes. It’s an impressive-sounding trio, but side A struggled to get my feet tapping or my head banging.
Thinking there must be more to Triggerfinger I did some searching and found this article which pointed me to a number of good performances on youtube. I also listened to some more material on Tidal. And of course, an extra dimension is added to this particular review album because it is signed by the band.
YOUTUBE LINK
You can listen to this entire record on youtube
RAW MUSC STORE
The album is available online at the RAW MUSIC STORE website for 200 AED. It’s a unique version because it is signed by the artist.
PERSONNEL
- Bass – Paul Van Bruystegem, aka ‘Monsieur Pol’
- Drums, Percussion – Mario Goossens
- Vocals, Guitar, Organ – Ruben Block
TRACKS
- A1: Short-Term Memory Love 04:18
- A2: First Taste 03:23
- A3: Soon 04:05
- A4: Halfway Town 04:39
- A5: Scream 05:36
- B1: Is It 03:10
- B2: All My Floating 03:34
- B3: What Grabs Ya 03:25
- B4: Lines 07:44
- B5: No Teasin’ Around 04:53