It’s coming up to two years now since the release of TRAAMS’ second album, and it had all gone a bit quiet, but they’re back touring and they showcased some new music alongside their classics at an intimate, sold out show at Brighton’s Komedia Studio that showcased their brand of krautrock-inspired CBGB’s punk aesthetic sublimely.

Opening the show was Cambridge eight-piece, Nervous Conditions, who, from their limited releases on Soundcloud, have smacks of The Stooges’ earlier work. Unfortunately, the mixing on the night was not great and their two most important instrumental aspects, the saxophone and the violin, were pretty much non-existent. They’re an interesting band with a lot of interesting facets, but they sounded messy and looked disinterested.

Arriving to a packed out Komedia, TRAAMS walked on stage meaning business. Kicking straight off into arguably their biggest single to date, ‘Low’, it set the precedent for what TRAAMS are about: noisy, punkish rock ‘n’ roll that has a radio-friendly listenability to it. What followed was a well-balanced set between their two albums, with a few new ones thrown in for good measure.

Keeping talk to a minimum and focusing on their music is classic TRAAMS and their chemistry on stage is clear to see. Lead singer Stu Hopkins is an animated frontman, flouncing around the stage at any given moment during their lengthy jam sessions. The show also saw them debut some new songs which assumedly will be on their third album. Both ‘Neckbrace’ and ‘Punk’ were planted in the middle of the set. Sounding just like classic TRAAMS, it seems like the next album will be just as loud, just as rocking and just as raucous.

At times the sound mixing let them down. Sometimes Hopkins’ guitar was too loud and his mic was too low. It felt a bit haphazard at times, whether that is something TRAAMS are going for or not, it felt strangely impenetrable at times and for the casual Saturday music fan, I’m sure it would have left them cold and confused.

Ending on latest single ‘A House on Fire’ and debut album closer, ‘Klaus’, was a masterstroke. ‘A House on Fire’ arguably received the biggest reaction of the night from a surprisingly quiet crowd on a Saturday night, while ‘Klaus’ ended TRAAMS’ set beautifully. The lengthy, bass-heavy song has tremendous rise and fall with subsequent crescendos into punky madness. When TRAAMS first turned up on the scene there were people raving about their likeness to Television and this is the song which most resembles the New York rockers. Ending on those two songs brought TRAAMS back from the blurry sound throughout and showcased their immense, musically rugged, fuzzy brand of indie-rock. It’s good to have you back, lads.

Liam McMillen

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Read our review of the TRAAMS album Modern Dancing: brightonsfinest.com/html/index.php/music/1056-traams-modern-dancing