Tren Go! Sound System / Ornamental – Assessment

Since 2021 arrived I have been patiently waiting for word on the first release of the year from Dirty Filthy Records. After a stellar set of releases in 2020 I was a bit worried they may have peaked in quality. Thankfully, I needn’t have worried.

For their first release of the year Dirty Filthy Records have teamed up with German label Pink Tank Records to release Assessment by Tren Go! Sound System and Ornamental.

Pedro Pestana (Tren Go! Sound System) and Sidney Yendis (Ornamental) join forces to take us on a trip into another dimension.

Tren Go! Sound System is a guitar, loop and effects driven one-man-band. You may know Pestana from 10 000 Russos and Talea Jacta. Yendis has been producing and performing electronic music under his alter ego ′′ Ornamental ′′ since 2013. He is also a member of the psychedelic rock band Burn Pilot.

Assessment kicks of with the title track. All glitchy electronica erupts into a pounding surf rock sonic assault. Instead of visions of Hawaii Five O this song is firmly set in space. I imagine the silver surfer travelling at breakneck speed from galaxy to galaxy. The drums and bass anchor the song whilst the guitar riffs soar. What a start!

Next up is ‘Meio Com Meio Sem’ which Google Translate reliably informs me is Portuguese for ‘Half with Half Without’. After the adrenaline fuelled rush of the opener we are now drifting through the cosmos. This has a real K7 or Compost vibe to it as well as being out there psyche. Its like Kruder and Dorfmeister suddenly discovered a fuzz pedal. Utterly enthralling and chilled to the max.

‘Tuarengue Fever’ further subverts our expectations with tribal drums and a very African vibe. The bass and guitar mirror each other and then split off to build and create their own worlds within the structure the drums provide. Its hypnotic, eerie and further proof that this band are no one trick ponies.

The album closes with some good old fashioned space rock. ‘Space Race (Breaking the Atmosphere)’. This is my favourite track on here and it delivers in spades. It takes all the rhythms and textures from across the album and repurposes them. I particularly enjoyed the trilling guitars at the five-minute mark. Just beautiful and they evoke the moment of entering space perfectly.

Assessment is such a satisfying listen. It never sits around mimicking the previous song. Instead, it constantly explores and evolves as it goes. This is essential listening and a lesson on how to engage a listener and take them on a journey.

Assessment will be released on cream opaque coloured vinyl on 12th March 2021 via Dirty Filthy Records webstore and the Pink Tank Records webstore.