At the forefront of the wave of shoegaze revivalists comes Fort Worth’s trauma ray who’ve mastered its complexity, intensity, and expressive devastation. Since first making waves with a S/T EP in 2018, the Texas five have been honing their live set across increasingly adventurous American tours – stacking amps and turning heads show by show, justly earning them a massive following in no time. The band’s three guitar attack is a force to behold, alternately surging, savage and spectral, drenched in precision distortion.
The core songwriting duo of Uriel Avila and Jonathan Perez have expanded and refined the project’s vision and craft, culminating in their 12-track Dais debut and first full-length, Chameleon. Rounded out by bassist Darren Baun, drummer Nicholas Bobotas, and guitarist Coleman Pruitt, the album both synthesizes and transcends its influences, a stormy fusion of downer hooks, apocalyptic beauty, and bulldozer riffs.
Lead single “Bishop”, released today, perfectly encapsulates trauma ray’s depth and dimension, ripping out of the gate with “the biggest, baddest, saddest wall of sound.” Lyrics about being burnt at the stake and “tossed in the flame” dance above a stop-start assault of precision distortion, eventually expanding into a lush, heavy, sorrowful end coda.
Uri tells, “I grew up in a pretty religious setting. Sin, guilt, and penance have always been themes that have stuck with me since a very young age. The fear of hell and fire was instilled in me when I was in my most malleable state and the lyrics to this song tie to that period of my life.”
The name trauma ray was inspired by the German word for ‘daydream, or ‘dream state,’ in classic shoegaze fashion. Avila’s background in a devout Pentecostal community gives his lyrics about guilt, purgatory, and passing to the other side to an emotional authenticity that cuts through the music’s majestic volume.
Chameleon is a masterpiece of craft, balance, melody, lyricism, and gravity, flexing a fresh vision of loud-quiet-loud architectures and the vertigo depths of blasted harmonics. From Slowdive to Deftones to Hum and beyond, trauma ray absorb and expand on their influences into a rare and dedicated alchemy. trauma ray’s cinematic tempest is a gathering storm only just taking flight.
Chameleon sees its release October 25 via Dais Records. Trauma Ray hit the road this Fall with a set of Texas shows including Levitation before their run with Panchiko. Other highlights include two release shows: one headlining The Roxy in LA and San Diego’s Voodoo Room which were just announced today.
