Gary Trimble has released a punk rock solo project under the name of Plank Eyed Saints and delivers a solid album’s worth of songs.
Small towns in Southern, Illinois are generally not well-recognized for producing fine punk rock, but as one might expect, the genre can and does have its share of bands in places you’d never expect. Gary Trimble, a veteran of other punk bands, decided to pursue Plank Eyed Saints as a way to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and as such the solo project was born. Ideal plans would have the solo project turning into a band, but for now we have Kingdom Call as the first release.
As one might expect, this project is not one with a huge budget and top line producers but the recording has a certain feel to it that many fans of punk rock will recognize. “Not Rocket Science” is the song where it first struck me as it has that early Misfits feel. Obviously far from perfect but the mix of guitars, vocals, and drums have that odd almost like recorded in a cave or hallway nostalgic feel and the vocal styles do share a bit with the early Danzig-era Misfits.
As one would expect, songs are generally short and sweet with a few instrumentals thrown in, “Repent,” “Get in Where You Fit In,” and “Faith Bomb”. “Faith Bomb” also marks the start of a change in the recording quality that is very noticeable. Songs “Faith Bomb,” “Break the Silence,” Ambition Mission,” and “In it to Win It” have a much louder , fuller, and more live feel to them . Offhand, I’m not sure which parts I prefer, but it would have been nice to have had all of them recorded similarly, but given the nature of the solo project and diy ethic here, this is not a big surprise.
This is a collection of old-school punk songs, that really do have a nostalgic feel to them, evoking Misfits and Ramones from a music and recording standpoint that is worth checking out. So often, smaller projects like this turn out some music with a lot of potential and as a listener, you hope the project can continue and in this case hope that a band can be assembled and things progress from this solid start.
Rating: 6.5/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
01. Repent
02. Trust
03. Not Rocket Science
04. Poison
05. It’s Finished
06. Do the Math
07. Betrayed By a Kiss
08. Faith Bomb
09. Break the Silence
10. Ambition Mission
11. Gray Hairs
12. In it to Win It
Band Members
Gary Trimble – All instruments, vocals
Record label: Sky Burns Black Records, November 2015
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission