Trans Am / Surrender to the Night by Sean Kennedy Thrill Jockey At the Cul de Sac show a few weeks ago at Tokyo Rose, the father of the family sitting next to me began asking questions during the break after the opening act. Like, what was the next band's name? Were they from Charlottesville? I answered him in greater detail than he probably wanted, all the time wondering why the hell this guy, his wife, and teenage son would be in the dark basement of a sushi joint waiting for a band they didn't know anything about to come on and rock their world. His last question: Did I think there'd be some singing? "No," I said. "They're more interested in sound." Cul de Sac came on, and after some startled hand jive around the ears, the family left. On their sophomore effort Surrender to the Night, Trans Am too, are only interested in sound, but I doubt their spineless stabs into electronic music could ever send people fleeing. I know for sure that they don't deserve the royal throne known as "the future of rock," a label I've heard applied to them more than a few times, because if there is such a thing as the future of rock, it's already present in the form of electronic wizards known as DJs who spin at raves and other all-night dance parties. But Trans Am? Come on. They're just some rock and roll boys who've discovered the fun of manipulating sound electronically. Compared to any master of electronic music, Trans Am leave something to be desired on Surrender to the Night. Straightforward rock songs like "Motr" and "Carboforce" are great, but the electronic counterparts which make up most of the album come off more like clueless meanderings through a foreign world than the full-fledged musical statements they should be. "Cologne," for example, begins promisingly with a sexy electronic rhythm set to a pumping bass line and a jungle-inflected drum machine beat, but quickly loses momentum and becomes boring. So is the case with "Illegalize It" and "Love Commander." Other songs, like the title cut, are just thin atmospherics. The overall result is an album of great background music. Whenever I listen to Surrender to the Night, I become more intrigued by the shifting patterns of clouds outside.

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