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Can one build a “supergroup” by recruiting its members at the level of one city only, even if that city has long been celebrated as one of the musical capitals in the country ? Can one favour a kind of “local resources network” when precisely the contemplated adventure was supposed to be short-lived but eventually ends up rolling out over a longer time, over decades ?
It would be difficult to talk about those “trunks” without having a look at their roots. And at the place where they grow. Rennes, in Brittany, is that place, the rich soil and fertile ground every member of Trunks is connected to even if some originate from more distant places. The band was actually formed at the idea and impetus of Le Jardin Moderne, a well-known cultural hub of the Breton capital city. The place is itself the aggregate of several cultural non-profit organizations and initiatives. And it wanted to celebrate its fifth anniversary… back in 2003..
Although hailing from the north of France, Laetitia Sheriff was at the time already a major figure of “the Rennes rock scene”, a position easily confirmed by a widely recognized discography along with a hit list of festivals for this singer, guitar and bass player (in Trunks, she is on bass). She could well appear as the figurehead of the band if the band had not chosen to put every member on equal footing (and, on this new album, every number is co-signed). Regïs Boulard on drums is possibly a little less known but anyone who has seen him live once can instantly understand the respect he enjoys among musicians, in the Breton musical scene and far beyond. From his bands, Chien Vert and NO&RD (with Olivier Mellano) to his collaboration with Philippe Poirier (ex Kat Onoma), to his 13 years in Sons of the Desert, to the amazing Machine Couchée, he was and remains an essential pillar TRUNKS could not do without, a rock drummer who can play way beyond rock. He himself was rehearsing at Le Jardin Moderne, on board an adventure along with Régis Gautier, guitar player in the noise outfit Møller Plesset with whom Laetitia really wanted to play, and along with Stéphane Fromentin, then on the six-string with Ruby Red Gun.
Beyond the guitar, Stéphane is active in many different fields and projects including theatre, dance, the fine arts, while still taking part in Chien Vert records and concerts (with Régïs Boulard) but also those of Yes Basketball or of Ladylike Lily. He would also be the one behind the imagery and graphic art of the new band.
The short original encounter and experience at Le Jardin Moderne left TRUNKS with the desire to continue the adventure. While the live dates were produced by La Station Service, another Rennes structure, it was Régïs Boulard who encouraged the band to record. One had to wait until 2007 for the first record, “Use Less”, to come out, a recording based on Kerouac’s works and on which sax player Daniel Paboeuf was invited to play. Régis Gautier had to leave the band shortly after to devote all his time to his scientific career as a researcher. Boulard then offered Paboeuf a permanent position in TRUNKS. It certainly did not take much persuading and Daniel soon became an essential driving force in the band. A constant satellite in the “Marquis de Sade” galaxy, Daniel had not yet lauched his DPU (Daniel Paboeuf Unity) and although he was involved in multiple collaborations (locally as with Daho or Niagara) or further away (Hardy, Chamfort, Dominique A), the sax player instantly knew that he was here surrounded by accomplices able to take rock outside its usual limits.
Having two guitar players remained essential for the band sound, though. So, Stéphane Fromentin brought Florian Marzano, guitarist and singer in We Only Said. Florian was the latest addition to TRUNKS and the band carried on with their live shows and in 2011 published the album “On the Roof”, released on Daniel Paboeuf’s “Il Monstro” label already. The quintet’s latest recording came out in 2013, a split record called “Rosemary K’s Diaries 03”, released on the label “Les Disques de Plomb” with the Lorraine-based band Filiamotsa on the B-side.
One could be inclined to write “then, nothing..” but that would be forgetting that TRUNKS is first and foremost a friendship adventure between musicians with respect for one another who are used to come and go, meet again with pleasure, get back together even if their own individual projects sometimes keep them busy, thus stretching time until the next phase, even more so when Covid came along. Twenty years after its birth, ten years after its last release, getting the family back together came naturally. As came the addition of Thomas Poli, musician and sound engineer and already a collaborator of most of the members of the quintet in their various individual projects. Thomas co-realised the new TRUNKS album which he also mixed and mastered.
Thus, TRUNKS was back together in 2016 for sessions which remained unfollowed, every single member having a busy schedule on the side. But when, in 2021, Laetitia texted the whole gang to get things going again, this produced, at Stéphane’s suggestion, a situation where the band would start from scratch again and look for fresh material rather than use old stuff. There are new things to be experienced and new stories to be told. Being reunited in the studio was a confirmation of the magic blend and the pleasure everyone felt and still talks about in an emotional way. So, the album opens with a crystal clear single which ended up adopting the working title the band used at rehearsals, “Les Belles Choses” (The Beautiful Things), a track echoing the dual nature of the vision often to be found on the album. “Les heures comptées à se morfondre contre celles, belles, passées avec les gens qu’on aime » (The long hours spent languishing versus the beautiful ones spent in the company of people you love) …
“Edgeways” is also in tune with some kind of opposition, chaos and the attraction of evil against love and light, an attraction to noise leading to a more ethereal feeling. A quite openly face-value number but questioning the, often thin, limits between byways off the beaten track, sidesteps and plain drifting. As with the first track, the song came out of a few French words brought by Laetitia Shériff which were revisited, mostly by the very anglophile Régïs Boulard. Proceedings were again a little different for “Memotrunks”, Florian Marzano opting to shorten a text which Laetitia felt a touch too dark and taking over on vocals to produce something still deep but luminous too (with the help of a digital Mellotron, dubbed Memotron here.)
It was Florian who also brought the sonic surprise that is “Norbor”, a cryptic title (Sauron on Belle-Ile ?), an instrumental track opening in a gentle way before being submerged by black energy. Another instrumental comes with the cool “O.B.O”, the tension and opposition being reflected in the title, a pun on the word “hobo” and a few financial acronyms. It showcases the communicative pleasure at work in the reuniting of the drum/bass section, a number where Boulard and Shériff provide a solid playing field for the two guitars and the sax.
Ears will have to be pricked up to hear the Sci-Fi wink among the terrible litany of battles listed in a flat voice on “Blood on Poppies” while the music intensifies, a list which one may fear will never stop.
As Régïs Boulard will regretfully tell you: “Humanity can’t seem to be learning anything. Things can only get better individually, through personal efforts.” It was Régïs who found the concept behind the track (conceptual then, but never brainy), a track dedicated to the memory of D Day veteran Ken Tout and to his remarkable history and commitment.
Let’s mention the album title. It could have been “In Dust Trees”. But that was seen as a pun much too remote from what the music offers and it also gave too much space to losses and hardships experienced by various TRUNKS members in recent years. It then became “We Dust”, hence avoiding both invasive burden and stupid happiness and also sounding “not unlike our reunion”. ‘We sweep, we dust, we look after our own house”, they say, contemplating a brighter future when together.
The album closes with “What Is Fantasy” / “What Is Real”, inevitably connected. The first one disrupts your bearings through polyrhythmic cleverness while the sampled voices pay a respectful tribute to Laurie Anderson. A new bit of haiku spirit to express this feeling to be shared: “one does not know on which planet to dance any more”. Then the second number picks up the melodic riff while the drums play a five-beat rhythm so as to confuse us further into TRUNKS‘ spellbinding labyrinth where saxophone notes take off, notes Laetitia Shériff suggested to Daniel Paboeuf (and which were recorded in one take). What’s real, what’s not ? It is up to you to decide. What will definitely be real, from this very autumn, is TRUNKS back together live on stage. TRUNKS, a “supergroup”, really.
