REVIEW: Trial Tapes - 5 Notes
- Julia Stark
- May 4
- 3 min read
Summer isn’t just around the corner, it’s epitomised by newcomer TRIAL TAPES on his debut EP 5 Notes, releasing 5th May. Every track feeling like you’re in an 80s movie where the colours are over-saturated and gauzy and you’re driving down the beachfront in a classic convertible to the promenade funfair. Perhaps a little too specifically descriptive, but from the first unrushed, hazy guitar licks and softened but poignant lyrics it conjures an affecting emotion that can’t quite be captured without waxing lyrical.
Emotionally driven by his late coming out and having to start life from scratch on his own after a long stint in Brighton before returning to Liverpool, TRIAL TAPES has poured that terrifying uncertainty and optimistic hope into a sound that threads through multiple genres and decades, in a self described “queer-baked scuzz” genre. From first being inspired by OZZY OSBOURNE and later TEARS FOR FEARS, to spending a period away from music, TRIAL TAPES draws not only on his moving experiences but takes his namesake from his previous music projects, combined with a BBC documentary about the harrowing AIDS crisis.
But it’s also a nod to his penchant for recording on cassette tapes and capturing a feeling that’s both timeless and dated. 5 Notes delivers that cathartic release and the emotion of moments lost to time or fear with lulling, lo-fi guitar riffs and licks, rambling deep bass lines and steady, sharp drum beats that move from the back seat to the forefront with rolls and jolting whips across the cymbals. TRIAL TAPES sings like he’s holding something back, on the precipice of bursting with emotion but trying to stay sedated, with stirring lyrics that feel deceptively upbeat with the rhythm but show his outlet for everything he’s been through and has yet to challenge.
From an almost gentle bursting into tune, Slowpoke’s vulnerably soft lyrics juxtapose with the hazy indie rhythm, TRIAL TAPES singing matter-of-factly “I’ve been dead for a long time, I just didn’t know, just didn’t know…”, over steady claps, staccato guitar rhythm and lilting guitar notes. 42 begins deceptively with a restrained intro before revving up to a fuzzed guitar riff and beat that bounces off the walls, upbeat synth weaving through on the final chorus and elevating the sound, the fastest-paced track on the EP that paints the story of a love story that could have been if time and circumstances were kinder.
The first single released last year, Coughing Fits has the far-away sense of both the 60s psychedelic-pop-rock and the 80s dreamy synth-wave-rock, the beat invoking shoulder shimmying while the words are cutting, slowing completely down to muffled synth and tender, hushed lyrics before the instruments build back up again to the bittersweet tune. Leopard Print Skulls has an anticipatory intro that falls away into fuzzed acoustic and languid tempos with layered soft vocals, an intermittent cymbal crash pulling you out of the soothing feeling. Despite the sensitive lyrics, it’s almost like an acceptance of the things that can’t be changed.
5 Notes ends with a psychedelic-funk intro on Sliding, the tempo similar to the other EP tracks, but suddenly blasting in with screams and tearing guitar riffs reminiscent of BECK and T.REX, the juddering bass more prevalent from the end of the chorus and frequent bouts of distortion that should feel jarring but bring the track together, the instruments mashing together in a way that feels like organised chaos and a cathartic outlet, before fading away into an unknown but no longer obscure potential.
Score: 8/10
5 Notes will be self released on 5th May 2026.
Words: Julia Stark
Photos: Anton McMahon
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