We have a first time on Colin's Punk Rock World today. First band we have featured from Croatia! The band in question are Trophy Jump. They are a four piece skate punk band from Zagreb featuring Tony Alex (guitar and vocals), Hardlike Pete (Guitar and backing vocals), Johnny Despair (bass and backing vocals) and Marc DeMarco (drums and backing vocals). On Christmas day Trophy Jump released their debut album which they titled Depression Club. Always keen to check out new bands from all over the world I jumped at the chance to review the album.
Depression Club starts with a song of the same name. The thing that struck me first about the song, and the band's sound in general, is Tony Alex's unique vocal. It's a higher pitch that I'm used to hearing and it very much reminds me of Phillip Hill of the former Nashville based pop punk band the Teen Idols. Depression Club is about slipping into a state of depression due to a variety of reasons. I found the song to be quite positive, showing the listener that they are not alone with their depression. Sympathy For Kevin takes a look at the complex situation of spurning someone of a different sexuality's unwanted advances. This is quite a unique topic for a song so I wonder if it's true to life for a member of the band. The song is quite simplistic with its lyrics, this makes it super accessible though and will spend a lot of time in your head whether you want it to or not. The third song is titled CTR. It's about looking back on your childhood and remembering the great times but also realising that it's in the past. Musically the song feels slightly more aggressive than the previous two tracks with DeMarco's drumming really standing out.
Noob is an interesting song. It's only one minute and thirty seconds long and the last thirty of those seconds is the outro. Trophy Jump manage to get everything that they want to say done in the first two thirds of the song and just use the end to have a bit of a jam. The track is about always trying your best and not being afraid to fail. If you do your best, that's all that matters. I love the positivity of this message. Wake Up Fool is just one minute long and easily the most aggressive song on Depression Club. Lead vocalist Alex really puts a lot of strain on his voice during the track and it comes off extremely passionately, sounds incredible and really makes me care about the song. The song is about realising that you're drinking too much and having a wakeup call about it. The sixth song on the album is titled April Fool's Day. April Fool's Day is a fun little song about simply getting too old to be able to play pranks on your friends. The age used as an example is 21 but I can confirm that it's still possible to play successful pranks when you're in your 30s.
16 Again is about getting older and yearning to be a teenager again. Trophy Jump use the examples of not being able to get drunk or high like they did when they were younger as reasons to miss their youth. This is another short and fun song that is quite catchy and will get a smile out of many people that relate to the content. The penultimate song is Trophy Jump's version of the theme tune to the popular Japanese animation Beyblades. I know this because I did some research like a good little album reviewer. The song isn't a complete carbon copy of the theme but takes a bit of the theme and makes it the band's own. The final song on Depression Club is named Trophy Jump. Yes, that's also the name of the band - it's not me making a mistake! The intro to the song builds the song up to make the listener aware that this will be the big ending of the album. Lyrically the song is very sad and is about really not thinking much of yourself as a human being. But this can also be cathartic because there are a alot of people who also feel this way and it's good to feel like you're not alone.
Trophy Jump are a fun new band on the European scene. Clearly influenced by a love of skate and pop punk, the band stick to those influences but add their own spin to things as well. I really liked the song topics, with plenty of themes that people will relate to and also enjoy.
Stream and download Depression Club here: https://trophyjump.bandcamp.com/releases
Like Trophy Jump here: https://www.facebook.com/trophyjump/
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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