Tiny Mix Tapes

Drag City reissues Royal Trux’s Pound for Pound, an album about hashtags

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It’s almost Halloween, and in a rather interesting move, Royal Trux are reissuing their album with the least amount of scary sounds, Pound for Pound. Out this week but recorded during the turn of the century, #4# (abbreviation thine own) was the band’s final recorded album before their dissolution in 2001. Much like kindred 21st century anticipator Prince, the Trux greeted Y2K with a batch of funk and rock’n’roll songs, news stories about mass computer crashes be damned.

What resulted was an album that was far removed from their discordant 1988 debut album; inevitably, #4# had a lot of people (my 12-year-old self included, you better believe it) shouting the word “sellout.” Alas, the passing of time has proven that Pound is just as wild as the rest of the Trux’s oeuvre, even though it was recorded with an actual microphone. Drag City must feel equally confident about the album, as they’re releasing as no-frills of a reissue as they can, with no additional bonus tracks, no remastering job, no new liner notes, etc. Come on bros, at least throw me a Hot Chip remix!

• Royal Trux: http://www.dragcity.com/artists/royal-trux
• Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com