I had never even heard of The Insect Trust until about 8 minute ago. I went to the “For You” section in Apple Music, and it was the first album listed under the Singer/Songwriter category, and the cover art looked really cool. That being said, the group appears to be one that didn’t exactly stick together too long, as this album is their only album one Apple Music, and they only have one other album from 1970 listed in their discography on Wikipedia. The description given for their musical style is jazz-based rock, so I’m quite excited.
“The Skin Game” has a very blues feel to it right away, but almost blissful in its acoustic-ness. Wow, I can definitely hear the jazz roots to the song, but it’s very much a bluesy rock and roll song. It somewhat reminds me of Steely Dan, though I admittedly haven’t listened to nearly enough of their work. Wow, this one really starts to boogie and gets a little strange at about the midpoint of the song. The effects on this are somewhat psychedelic in nature, but there’s a purely chaotic jazz element to the whole thing as well. Wow, it drops back into the main chorus really amazingly. This album is going to be sweet if this song is any indication.
“Miss Fun City” has almost a rootsy bluegrassy feel to it, with what I think is a mandolin or maybe banjo being played as the solo intro instrument. The drums and bass feel so smooth to my ears, definitely a bit jazz-sounding in my opinion. Ooh, there’s a very slick vibe switch up in the song. I really dig the vibe to this album so far – very relaxed, pretty rootsy, and also extremely chaotic, sometimes all at once, and sometimes in some sort of combination. The electric guitar sort of takes over the tune out of nowhere. As different instruments fade and out, the song displays a really dynamic sound. That saxophone is really strange – definitely sounds far out and a really stupendous way.
“World War I Song” has a very homely feel to it: sort of bluesy, sort of optimistic, sort of rootsy, and sort of meandering, all at once. I really dig the sound in this one – it reminds me of how Pokey LaFarge’s music sounded like it was from a bygone-era. That saxophone or clarinet solo is pretty jazzy, and really makes the song sort of meander about itself. Really cool song.
“Special Rider Blues” sounds like an old 1940s blues record being played through a tin cup – honestly it’s really sweet. There’s even some artifacts to make it sound like that. Oh wow, the song just dropped into place and it sounds super hi-fi compared to how it sounded before. Wow, this jam the band is in now definitely sounds like blues rock played by a jazz band. I really dig the drums in this one keeping a very steady beat with some flourishes here and there. Those slide guitar parts are pretty slick too. It definitely gets chaotic at times, but the rock and roll aspects of the song keep it rolling along. Dang, the solos on this one are pretty sweet. Holy smokes, the saxophone and the guitar really jamming right now. This song sounds like it’s not going to stop for anything at all.
“Foggyy River Bridge Fly” has a super intriguing feel to it. It’s almost got an old southern marshy string quartet vibe in my opinion. Ooh, the mandolin just came in. This album is really awesome. That was a short song, but super interesting.
“Been Here and Gone So Soon” starts out with a somewhat strange conversation, presumably with someone in the band, talking with someone on a bridge. When the instrumentation comes in, there’s a very sweet, heartfelt sound given off by the music. Wow, the song really swells with the addition of the string parts. The drumming is somewhat folky in this one – in fact – the whole song is kind of folky in my opinion.
I really dig the vibe from “Declaration of Independence”. It’s definitely a folk rock song in my opinion, as of right now. Oh wow, there’s a flute solo in it, followed by a saxophone mini solo that keeps that vibe, and that vibe is promptly picked up by the guitar solo. This song is super sweet in my opinion.
Oh wow, “Walking On Nails”, has a really groovy sound to the whole thing. I’m not sure what’s being played in terms of percussion, but I really dig that sound. The guitar parts in this one get really blissful. In fact, the whole song is pretty blissful, especially when the flute comes into play. I really dig the vocals in this one; the notes hit almost add a certain sense of serenity to the song for me.
“Brighter Than Day” starts out with with recorded sounds from a road, and drops into blues folk rock song heavily influenced by jazz. The guitar parts in this one are awesome, there’s a really sweet back and forth between the acoustic rhythm and the distorted electric solo. The horns/woodwind instruments really add a force behind this song. The way the vocals faded into the woodwinds was pretty sweet. I love the interplay between the electric guitar and that forceful chaotic saxophone.
“Mountain Song” has a really European folk feel to it – I’m definitely reminded a lot of Steeleye Span with this introduction. Ooh, this one almost develops into some sort of Indian raga feel to it with the percussion and what’s currently happening with the stringed instruments. Wow, this song is one left turn after another. You could argue there’s a certain sense of psychedelia here as well. Oh wow, I’m not even sure what half of these instruments being played are, but it was super interesting and awesome composition for sure.
“Going Home” has a real jangliness to it that brings a cowboy-on-his-way-home-but-not-quite-yet sort of vibe. It sort of meanders about itself, in a pseudo-bluesy way. That buzz from the slide guitar is really organic in sound. And then the flute adds a real gentleness to the track, that when combined with the singers soft tone, really makes it a heartfelt sort of tune. It’s got a sense of bewilderment to it, in my opinion. It sounds like the electric guitar is layered on top of the sliding acoustic, and the combination gives a super authentic sound, and quite an interesting one at that. When the singer comes back in the song becomes extremely serene, especially as the music fades out.
This album was super sweet. A somewhat unorthodox combination of rock and roll, jazz, and folk, with a little bit of psychedelia peppered in, brings about a very creative, and extremely interesting album. I would say fans of folk rock, blues, and psychedelia might enjoy this one the most, but this one is definitely a really interesting listen for those who are fans of jazz and something of chaotic rock and roll as well. Definitely glad I gave this one a listen, and hope you enjoy it at least as much as I did.
-A