The Trabants - Nel Cuore Di Una Terra Selvaggia CD (Lolipop!)

The Trabants, led by guitarist and songwriter Eric Penna, have been on quite a musical journey over the last decade, releasing a wide variety of surf and instro rock albums. For this one he’s decided to go in a spaghetti western direction, with amazing results. Over 3 years in the making, and lovingly recorded in analog, he’s assembled a fine group of backing musicians (including Pete Curry) on this 16 track opus. Cinematic in scope, this isn’t music that can be busted out with guitar, bass and drums - it requires at least a dozen additional instruments, and careful orchestration (even though an actual orchestra wasn’t used on this record). Sometimes all you need is a twangy guitar, a lone person whistling and a trumpet. It’s fun to hear a few instruments not normally associated with this style of music, such as harpsichord and Farfisa organ. There is one vocal, with the always amazing Prom Queen lending her Nancy Sinatra style sass to “Daddy’s Got A Big Bad Gun” (I’m not sure how they connected with this Seattle based songstress, but I’m sure glad they did, as this song is a classic). 

Tracks: The Truel - Theme For A Savage Land - Daddy's Got A Big Bad Gun - Campfire Tales - Sunset Rider - West Of The Pecos - Interlude - The Hard Path Home - Train To Durango - Solitude - Parlour Music - Wanderer - Last Man Standing - Sonora - The Troubadour - Daddy's Got A Big Bad Gun (instrumental)