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Trip The Wire

    
       
       
       
     
             
Trip The Wire are a hard rock band from the USA formed in 2020 by singer Eve Clarke and guitarist Dave Farrell - the band completed by bass player Johnny Massey and drummer Rico Ybarra. The bands self titled debut album was released in 2023.    
             
Full of energy, power and a sharp metal edge, 'Trip The Wire' features ten hard driving anthems of blues tinged hard rock - think early Whitesnake and you'd be somewhere near the Trip The Wire sound, although the major difference here is singer Clarke. Clarke's sultry tone is the perfect accompaniment to the bands dynamic and devastatingly punchy nature! Think how well suited cheese and onion are, or salt and vinegar, or even chicken and chips - that's how perfect an accompaniment she is! The ten songs on offer rock by in a little under forty five minutes, the album storming into life with the energetic 'In The Crossfire' - and a heavy pounding that's as relentless as it is infectious. The band are so hard hitting here, if you're not prepared you're gonna be viciously knocked into next week! And beyond! What a belter to introduce yourselves to a worldwide audience.    
             
And after such a sparkling opening, the band continue to rock hard with the punchy 'Anti Love', and a cracking anthemic style sing a long-able chorus. The crowd in a live arena are go fucking crazy for this one - Trip The Wire setting concerts, stereos, and head-phones alight with a brand of electrically charged hard rock. What a buzz - and we're only two songs in! The punchiness gets much harder with 'Hurricane', a barrage of bombastic riffs taking the listener by surprise! Not to mention the thunder - but what did you expect would accompany a song titled 'Hurricane'...? Exactly! In other reviews, I have labelled Swedish singing sensation Guernica Mancini (The Gems, ex Thundermother) as a "female David Coverdale" - her powerful bluesy and sultry voice a perfect match (albeit the opposite gender) to the Whitesnake frontman. And now a second singer Eve Clarke, can share the same accolade. Simply amazing! As is 'Zombie Child', featuring a bluesy Southern rock swagger the likes of Aerosmith made famous - Trip The Wire perfectly echoing the sound of the American rock legends!    
             
And turning the lights way down, the band enter balladry with the mellow march of 'Shine On' - everyone getting up to slow dance with their partners! Trip The Wire remind me of legendary glam/sleaze/hair metallers Poison here, the atmosphere created by 'Shine On' very reminiscent to the American glamsters and their mid-eighties power ballad 'I Won't Forget You' (off the bands 1986 album 'Look What The Cat Dragged In'). What an impression Trip The Wire are making! Emphatic in fact - 'The Fire' showcasing just how much of a powerhouse singer Clarke really is. The oomph has doubled, the punch trebled, 'The Fire' shaking the ground as it strides on by. And after four decades of listening to metal and rock, you'd think I'd have heard everything there is to hear! But nope - there's still more, there's always something new and fresh to tickle my fancy! And tickle my fancy Trip The Wire do, and very pleasurably too! The hardest hard rock offering makes an entrance in the shape of 'Maybe Next Time', with a tall and proud swagger that screams "look at me". And look you will - listen too! For 'Maybe Next Time' is as intoxicating as the bands singer! And that's very!    
             
Taking a walk outside the hard rock genre, Trip The Wire add a touch of the alternative to 'Outta My Hands', a slow wander of mellowness and serenity. Not ballad mellow and serene, but a doom rock kinda Gothic come melancholic march, which gets heavier the longer it progresses - the band not afriad to push their musical boundaries to new heights. 'Outta My Hands' is a departure from everything heard so far, but in no way shape or form is it out of place. It's just progression and maturity of the band - although 'Never Enough' returns to the comfort of bombastic hard rock, highly anthemic and overly punchy, with a sparkling vocal performance to boot! Trip The Wire are a young band with a long and fruitful future in front of them, I can't wait to hear where they'll go for album number two. But until then, the albums final song, the six minutes plus 'Step Nine' (along with all the other songs on offer) will have to do until the next time the band rear their collective heads above the horizon. Beginning in balladry, 'Step Nine' builds the atmosphere to a tension filled crescendo, lifting off with an almighty punchy crunch, adopting a soulful swagger as its strides majestically to a conclusion.    
             
Overall, a hard hitting slab of hard rocking hard rock, Trip The Wire have made an immediate and infectious impact with their debut album.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for C-Squared Music    
             
             
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