Team Tremolo

We’re pleased to bring you the premiere of Team Tremolo’s new song “Slipping the Noose” (listen below). The track is taken from the band’s forthcoming album Intruder, which is scheduled to be released through Air House Records on August 29th.

Spanning a range of moods from major and airy to dissonant and devilish, Team Tremolo’s debut EP, Intruder, showcases emotionally charged compositions that transport listeners to a place where My Bloody Valentine and Ride swap shoes with Failure and A Perfect Circle. It was in these bands that Team Tremolo’s founding member and guiding creative force William Erickson found his earliest inspiration for the group. “I was born in 1995,” he says, “so I missed out on a lot of the shoegaze from the ‘90s, but in the past few years I’ve fallen in love with the alt-rock of that era.”

What initially began as a bedroom demo project in 2013 morphed into a full band by late 2015. Joining Erickson (who played both guitar and drums on the record) are his bandmates from The Travel Guide—guitarist Kristyn Chapman, guitarist Thayne Coleman, and bassist Caleb Drummond—as well as singer-songwriter Jenny Wood. “I didn’t really intend for this to be a live band until I realized I wanted to take the material I’d been working on and bring them into the light,” says Erickson. “I really wanted to see how the songs would play out once I got some people together who I felt could help polish and shape them.”

Climbing up through a wall of distorted guitars, Wood adds her singular vocals, informed by the ethereal tendencies of Kate Bush and the hazy, dejected state of grunge; guitarist Chapman brings her own sense of dynamics and space, informed by but not slave to peak-era Sonic Youth; Drummond expands the album’s sonic horizons by solidifying a tight rhythm section with his steady but consistently imaginative playing. At the end of “The Waif,” listeners can feel the pulverizing force of the Erickson/Chapman/Coleman guitar trio, as layers and layers of feedback and fuzz are piled on top of each other.

The cohesion evident in Team Tremolo’s first recording may stem from the interconnecting musical lives all the players have shared. In addition to The Travel Guide, Erickson, Drummond, and Coleman all serve as the backing band for Wood’s solo band. Despite those intersections, Team Tremolo maintains a distinctive musical identity stemming from Erickson taking on writing duties for the project. “In every other project I’ve done, I’ve only ever been the drummer. This was my chance to direct the writing process and try something new.”

With writing complete, the group retired to Air House Studios in Wichita to track with veteran engineer Micajah Ryan (Bob Dylan, Megadeth, Guns N’ Roses) and Air House founder David Lord. Co-produced by Erickson and Ryan, the album exemplifies the intersection between alt-rock and shoegaze, blending pop sensibility with crushing, wall-of-sound atmospherics. “I really wanted to make a heavy, loud record [at Air House] since no one really had before,” Erickson says. “I’ve worked with Micajah on a number of projects and wanted to see what it’d be like to work with him in a completely different context.”

Mastered by JJ Golden, Intruder will be available as a digital release on August 29 through Air House with a cassette version to follow via This Ain’t Heaven Recording Concern. - New Noise Magazine

Team Tremolo is the direct result of one musician’s desire to reconnect with his early creative self. Having spent some time playing drums in the band the Travel Guide, Will Erickson wondered what would happen if he picked up his first love, guitar, and started writing songs. Influenced by classic shoegaze and all things high-volume, he began quietly writing songs that were anything but quiet themselves.

As he gained confidence, he became intent on forming a vehicle for his music. Teaming with his bandmates in the Travel Guide (including bassist Caleb Drummond, guitarists Thayne Coleman and Kristyn Chapman) as well as singer-songwriter Jenny Wood, Erickson soon tapped into the hazy, heavy sounds one hears on the Kansas-based outfit’s debut, Intruder.

Co-produced by Erickson and Micajah Ryan (Guns N' Roses, Megadeth, Bob Dylan), Intruder walks a narrow line between the esoteric and the accessible with layers of guitars that summon thoughts of Sonic Youth as much as Failure and My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, Wood’s vocals create another layer of the mysterious as she uses her vocal prowess as yet another instrument of intrigue.

Intruder is releasing 29 August and is available digitally as well as on cassette via This Ain’t Heaven Recording Concern. You can stream the record in its entirety below.


Before Team Tremolo, you were primarily known as a drummer. What led you start writing songs, playing guitar, and leading a band?

"The first instrument I ever picked up was a guitar, and initially that’s what I wanted to do. I’d always liked the idea of being a songwriter. People like Bob Dylan and Neil Young really inspired me when I was young, but I quickly realized I wasn’t the folk singer-songwriter type. I didn’t play guitar or write songs for a few years as I focused on drums, but after one tour in late 2013 I came back with a desire to sit down and start writing. I was listening to a ton of Torche and Failure, and just really wanted to write some heavier tunes, something heavier than what I was doing with my bands at that time."


The music has elements of shoegaze but there are elements that aren’t out of step with Sonic Youth around Daydream Nation. You also find room for contemporary sensibilities. It’s difficult to account for our influences but what was your relationship to that music?

"I love pretty much any guitar rock from the '90s -- Pavement, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., so I can definitely see the comparison there. If it’s got loud guitars and driving rhythms, I’m probably into it. Our guitarist, Kristyn [Chapman], is pretty heavily influenced by Sonic Youth as well, I think you can hear that in her leads and the way she manipulates her pedal board. There are also plenty of good contemporary bands who are trying to revitalize the shoegaze genre like Cloakroom and Nothing, whom I’ve been following pretty closely and take a lot of inspiration from."

You worked closely with Jenny Wood who’s a singer-songwriter of considerable talent. What changed once she came into the picture?

"Before Jenny joined Team Tremolo, I was planning on singing the songs myself. I quickly realized that wouldn’t work. I showed Jenny the demos and asked if she would want to sing, and pretty much from the first practice on I knew she would be a great fit. Once Jenny joined the band, it allowed me to focus more on the guitar parts and arrangements, and let her worry about the vocals. This way, we’re both playing to our strengths, and to me that’s what makes any collaboration successful."

“The Waif” seems like as good a place for any listener to start. What do you remember about the writing of that tune?

"That was actually the last song written for Intruder. Around October/November of 2016, I had the chords for the basic structure. I sat down with Jenny and Caleb [Drummond, bass] and hashed it out. We jammed on the idea maybe one time at a full rehearsal, but it never really got the “full band” treatment. That song definitely came together in the studio, especially once the drums were written. It ended up being my favorite on the album."


Did writing on guitar change how you thought about drumming at all?

"Oh yeah, totally. My guitar playing is all pretty rhythmic, and I naturally just try to write stuff that grooves or feels chunky. Drums (and their dynamics) have a huge impact on how a song feels, and how it comes off to a listener. In most settings, I’m stepping in on a tune I didn’t directly write, and I try to get into the mindset of the song but sometimes there might be a disconnect. For Team Tremolo, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted on drums from the get-go, and writing the rhythms on guitar makes it super easy to follow along to that. I try to have the drums and guitars work together and have a sort of back and forth chatter. Sometimes guitar parts inspire drum grooves, and sometimes it’s the other way around."

You’ve spent a long time putting this record together. How does it feel now that it’s done and about to go out into the world, find its own way?

"All in all it was about seven months from start to finish, which is a pretty long time considering I’ve done some records in two weeks. It’s nice to take time to work on something, and I usually have a “slow and steady wins the race” mindset when it comes to recording. I suppose it feels like having a child that you’re proud of, but then again I really wouldn’t know. With any big project like this, the finish line is rewarding regardless of any other factors. I always try to think of what could have been done better, or differently, and how to improve it next time." - PopMatters

Team Tremolo’s Intruder EP will be available August 29 through Air House Records & the Wichita, KS group presents a listen to the single “The Waif” that tackles the notion of frailty with iron clad chords. Co-produced by Micajah Ryan, the Midwest group creates a dream machine weapon fashion from the fodder of your favorite underground underachievers that set the slacker bar higher than all the tremolo-laden hooks could ever express. - Impose Magazine

Team Tremolo began innocently enough: with Will Erickson, primary songwriter, guitarist, and drummer, creating music to scratch a creative itch. “I started writing the demos in 2013. I hadn’t played guitar for a while and I was really inspired to start playing guitar again… I just got to a point where it was like, I really like shoegaze, I’ve been listening to that a ton for the past couple of years, it’s been like my mainstay so I should try writing some stuff.” And, for a while, it seemed that a personal recording project was what Team Tremolo was set to be. “I was just taking it super slow and doing Garage Band demos,” says Erickson. But by 2015 “I kind of just hit a stopping point writing by myself where I needed to bring some other people in and actually get these songs to where I want them to be.” That, coupled with an interest in bringing the music into a live setting, led to the formation as a full band.

At this point, Erickson had a couple of the songs on Intruder completely written and skeletons of the others. These demos were sent to the other members before they ever got together, allowing them to get a feel for the project and which parts could be expanded on. “From the beginning I was like ‘I want this to be big: big riffs and slow songs and really drawn out stuff,’” so the other members always had the shoegaze vibe in mind. Vocalist Jenny Wood came in through this process, creating vocal melodies for the lyrics Erickson already had, while collaborating and writing new ones as well. “A lot of Will’s lyrics just kind of sounded ethereal. But also pretty, not morbid, just kind of not human. I really loved that and could relate to that,” says Wood. Erickson addresses this, affirming that he’s “always enjoyed really cryptic stuff and spooky stuff so, you know, I’m just comfortable with those dark vibes.”

Going into the studio was a natural progression, both for the project as a whole and the band members themselves. Because Team Tremolo started as an album-minded project, Erickson had a strong vision of what he wanted their recordings to sound like—and he had all the tools to obtain that. “This our first record with Team Tremolo, but we’ve all been in bands for a long time and recorded a bunch of albums. And for me, personally, it’s like every time I get into the studio I learn something new. I waited to do the Team Tremolo album until I felt like I was ready. I wanted to go in and feel really prepared.”


The band was familiar with both the studio (Air House in Wichita, KS) and producer/engineer Micajah Ryan, which made the process even smoother. Woods was especially appreciative of the freedom she had to do anything she wanted with her vocals. She says she was able to start and stop when she wanted, and express her own ideas without fear of judgment, both of which really pushed productivity. “When there’s full trust, at least for myself, there’s no limit on creativity. I can do everything that I want to do and go as far as I want to go. So the recording process was really a dream.”

As for the vocal style throughout the record, Woods found it easy to hone in. While playing in her first long-term band, she said, “I would get told a lot that I had a music theater voice, and it wasn’t fitting with that genre of the band at the time, which was more like A Perfect Circle. So it was really hard for me to figure out how to tone my voice down to sing the music that I really loved because they hate music theater. So I was really pissed off that that was the voice I was given.” The music she plays has become more poppy in the years and projects since, so she has been able to put that voice to good use. Still, she is glad to be back on the mic with another heavier, more emotional band. “It’s like learning a new language and you’re able to go back to your native language years later, and you pick it up so easily. It feels so good and so comfortable that you really dive into it. That’s how I feel singing with this; it’s very native and innate to me. So I am able to really go all the way with it.”

This innate passion comes into play during live performances, too. “I think shoegaze is kind of born in the studio,” says Erickson. “A lot of those bands, when they play live it doesn’t sound exactly like their record. But they make up for it with like sheer volume.” Woods elaborates on her bandmate’s comments saying, “It’s such a physical music. I was always mad that I could never get into yoga, but I think whenever we’re playing I’m able to be physical in the same way. I’m able to really get all the emotion of the sound in the guitar and the drums happening and that kind of just gathers in my body in a muscular way.”



Of course the vocal effects and harmonies won’t be present in the same way that they are on record, and even the instrumental performances aren’t completely replicated, “but I will do everything in my physical power to at least convey the energy of the melody.” In the end, says Erickson, “they’re kind of two different beasts for me… To me it’s more important just to have a good show and enjoy ourselves. It’s not gonna sound like the record, but hopefully it’s a different experience.”

And that experience, whether live or on record, is what Team Tremolo is all about. “The only thing that I want is to make sure people feel a lot,” Woods says. For Erickso,n shoegaze is all about thick atmospheric music that takes you to another place. “It can really just help to put yourself in another place and let yourself be immersed in it.” He compares it to The X-Files, or horror movies that just have a way of sucking you into their world. “I’ve always liked just being able to go, transport to a different place and get a break from stuff,” and he hopes Team Tremolo can do that for others. Woods reflects this idea, adding, “the most important thing for me is afterword, after we’re done, talking to people and having them say things like they were able to take a break from their head or take a break from their lives and really just dive into the sound. That look of relief that people can have then they were able to really feel something so emotive that they felt alive. That’s my end goal.” - The Alternative

In a week where we’ve found DKFM is nominated for a second online radio award, it’s hard to keep our heads from spinning. But we’re here for you, and for new, and we’ve got plenty of both to keep everyone satisfied. From today’s release of Panda Riot’s Part Time Punks Session (brilliantly executed, that), to the new Vesper Records release of Dreams are Like Water, the debut EPs from Charcoal Skies and Team Tremolo, the sparkling new single from perennial favorites Indoor Voices, the reformed and re-polished Shallow, the epic new teaser single from Lapse, plus Dreams Wash Ashore (releasing September 8th) and The Age of Colored Lizards have new material they’d like you to consider. Plus we’ve finally got hands on the new Frankie Rose LP, with competing textures and colors, and the first single from the band When The Sun Hits, from the forthcoming Immersed Within Your Eyes EP on Saint Marie Records. Rounding out the roster, fresh tones from Pink Milk and YuKuBerī that simply must be heard. Finally, new music from Italy’s Sitting Girl With Arms Bent, full of charm and sparkle. Let’s do this! - DKFM

William Erickson is a busy guy, as are his bandmates in Team Tremolo. Hailing from Wichita, Kansas, each member juggles multiple musical groups, notably The Travel Guide and the solo project of the band’s vocalist, Jenny Wood. Merging one another’s eclectic backgrounds into something new, Erickson and Wood, along with members Kristyn Chapman, Caleb Drummond, and Thayne Coleman wrote and recorded Intruder, the band’s first EP as Team Tremolo. The EP debuted August 29, 2017 on the group’s Bandcamp page and is quickly turning heads.

Team Tremolo started as a demo project in 2013 as a vehicle for Erickson to explore his love of ’90s era shoegaze artists, but eventually evolved into something that was capable of living and breathing as a new band. Recruiting instrumentalists from The Travel Guide, it became clear that the band was ready to play out and start producing and broadcasting their material. The inclusion of Wood as the group’s vocalist further evolved their stylistic direction, blending in elements of grunge artists like Sonic Youth. Working with renowned engineer Micajah Ryan (Bob Dylan, Megadeth, and Guns N’ Roses), Team Tremolo refined their unique sound and meticulously finished their debut EP.

Ghettoblaster’s Andrew Humphrey recently caught up with Erickson and Wood to discuss the debut. This is what they told him.


You all share a lot of overlapping projects. What’s it like juggling these different groups while creating an entirely new band?

William Erickson: Honestly it’s easier than it would seem. Since we all share so many rehearsals and gigs with each other throughout the other bands, our schedules generally line up pretty well. The biggest thing is just planning stuff way in advance, and taking turns doing things.

For example, one band might be recording, while another is writing, and another is rehearsing and gigging every week. We took a break from shows for about six months while recording and that really made it easy to focus on getting the album done while still adhering to everyone’s schedules.

In the beginning, writing Team Tremolo songs was my respite from doing the other bands. It was what I did in my down time, so it’s always been pretty laid back. I’ve always taken this band at a pretty slow pace, and that helps keep the stress levels down. Other than that, music is always fun for me, so it’s never too stressful because at the end of the day it’s what I want to be doing.

What do you think most distinguishes this project from past works?

Jenny Wood: I’m able to be uninhibited in this project. For my own band, lyrical and guitar hook placement and fan song style preference is always in my peripheral. I am a huge early ’90s grunge fan and was always in heavy guitar bands as the lead vocalist, in the vain of Tool, Sunny Day Real Estate, Fugazi, A Perfect Circle, so being able to set aside that obligation to sing for Team Tremolo allows me creative vacation from my material and feeds my vocalist-only grunge hunger: The Gits, Kate Bush, Deftones.

How did the two of you cross paths and what made you decide to start writing together?

WE: I first met Jenny through my older sister when I was about 14. Jenny had just moved back from Nashville and I was just getting started with music. She was a friend of my sister’s, and my sister told me I needed to be playing with her.

I actually ended up playing my very first show opening for her with my old band, and from then on we’d stay friends. A few years later I filled in on drums for a gig of hers, and after that she asked me to join her band. After about a year of working with her on her songs and getting into a groove with writing, I thought she’d be a great fit for Team Tremolo so I just asked if she was interested. I showed her the songs and she immediately got it.

JW: I met Will about the time that I moved back to Wichita, seven years ago after living and playing in the Nashville, Tennessee, indie scene. I heard Will’s guitar playing and was intrigued by his chord voicings, and I also watched him play drums for The Travel Guide a few times. Knowing his work ethic and our parallels in music taste, I knew being in a band with him would be solid.

What sources of inspiration helped craft the lyrics for the EP?

WE: Most of the time I get inspired by a certain mood or feeling. When I was writing for this album I was watching a ton of X Files and reading books on the occult, and that definitely helped shape the general atmosphere of what I wanted to say. I’d be watching TV or reading a book and I’d just get this particular vibe that would spur an idea for a line or a phrase, or even an entire idea for a song.

I try to think of every song as its own story, within its own world and having a unique atmosphere. I generally like dark imagery and cryptic language. I like those weird, foreboding allegories that send a chill down your spine. There’s something about all that subversive stuff that I’ve always liked. I don’t like to be too straightforward. I prefer when people have to dig a little. I feel like that helps people attach their own meanings to songs, which for me is something I’ve always preferred as a listener.

JW: Will wrote most of the lyrics on the EP. The lyrics I wrote, he and I worked on together for the most part. My lyrical contribution came fully after hearing Kristyn and Will’s guitar tones during the recording. Lyrics that were drafted before we went into the studio ended up changing to work more with the guitar lines.

Guitars had a huge influence in lyrics and vocal delivery commitment, especially in the back and forth chatter between my voice and their guitars. As far as lyrical content, we were both motivated to keep the phrases cryptic. Speaking for myself only here, the lyrical intention was to amplify the intolerance of falsehood, and people’s ability to forgive themselves for deceptive living.

What was it like working with Micajah Ryan on the EP?

WE: Micajah is basically my musical dad. I’ve been working with him on various projects out of Air House, where he works and where we recorded the album, for the past five years or so and he’s hands down the best engineer and producer I’ve ever worked with. Micajah has this rare gift of being able to tell you that you suck without hurting your feelings. He is excellent at constructive criticism, and doesn’t BS you at all or try and fluff up your ego. If you played it bad, he’ll let you know. If you’re rushing a bunch, he’ll probably ask you how much coffee you drank that morning. Little stuff like that is what sets him apart in my opinion. He’s full of hilarious stories and quips from days in LA working with big bands, and even if there’s palpable tension in the room we’re only ever one rockstar story away from laughing our asses off and getting back to work.

What’s the best way for fans to get their hands on a copy of Intruder?

WE: Intruder will be available for download on our Bandcamp page, or they can purchase cassette tapes through This Ain’t Heaven’s website or from us in person at a show!

What’s next for Team Tremolo?

WE: I’m currently in the process of writing and demoing the next album, but I’m always thinking about writing. That’s a never-ending process for me. We’ll be doing some light regional touring, but since two of us in the band are still in school, we pretty much have to wait until summer for big tours. We’re planning a small mini-tour to get down to play SXSW as well. - Ghettoblaster Magazine

Quando se ouve uma estreia como "Intruder", do quinteto de Wichita no Kansas, Team Tremolo, é inevitável um sorriso enorme aparecer de ponta a ponta no rosto.

Essencialmente uma guitar band nos moldes noventistas, o Team Tremolo é o lado pesado do shoegaze, ou, o lado raivoso do indie rock.

"Intruder" é gritado, estridente, angustiante, denso, sempre em doses generosas, não existe meio termo durante as cinco pedradas do disco, o ritmo é intenso desde os primeiros momentos de "Slipping the Noose" até os derradeiros lamentos de "Worship You".

Uma estreia gigante cometeu o Team Tremolo, simples assim.

***** Interview with Team Tremolo *****

Q. When did Team Tremolo start? Tell us about the history...
Team Tremolo started as my personal outlet for songwriting after I had spent many years touring as a drummer. I wanted to do something different, and I really loved heavy bands like Torche at the time, so I wanted to emulate that heaviness. I started demoing the songs in my bedroom, and after about a year and a half, I decided it would be more beneficial to have a full live band to accompany me. We did a few shows, most notably opening for La Dispute in our hometown back in May of 2016. Around December 2016 we started the demo process for Intruder, and spent the spring of 2017 working on it.

Q: Who are your influences?
Some of my earliest influences were the typical classic rock bands like Zeppelin and Sabbath. As I started playing in bands, I got exposed to 90's guitar rock like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr., which had a big influence. In the last five years or so I got really into shoe gaze—My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Cocteau Twins, etc. The band Failure is a very large influence, especially in terms of their production on their albums. That was a big influence for the sound of Intruder.

Q. Make a list of 5 albuns of all time…
Top five albums (in no particular order)
"Fantastic Planet" by Failure
"Further Out" by Cloakroom
"Mezcal Head" by Swervedriver
"S/T" by Elliott Smith
"You're Living All Over Me" by Dinosaur Jr.

Q. How do you feel playing live?
Since I am first and foremost a drummer, playing live with Team Tremolo is a bit different for me since I play guitar. I'm not as comfortable playing live on guitar, but it is a ton of fun for me, and a completely different experience than playing drums. I love the volume of live shows, and the energy that is created on stage. Because the album is so dense in terms of production, we try and make up for that in our live shows with energy and loudness.



Q. How do you describe Team Tremolo sounds?
I usually describe Team Tremolo to people as being "heavy shoe gaze". I wanted to blend the power and angst of 90's grunge with the softness and atmosphere of shoegaze. I wanted it to be muscular in its riffs, but delicate in the vocal delivery. I tried to keep it equal parts aggressive and sensitive.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
We recorded the album at Air House Studios in Wichita, KS, which is our hometown. The engineer and co-producer Micajah Ryan is a close friend of ours, and someone we've worked with many times before. After getting pre-production done at our rehearsal space, we went into the studio in February of 2016 to start tracking drums. The rest of the recording process went super smoothly, and by April we had everything tracked. Throughout April and May, Micajah and I worked together pretty heavily on getting the mix just right, and by June it was all done. Overall it was a really fun project, and everyone gets along so well, there was a real synergy in the studio.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
I've been listening to this band called "Mossbreaker" a ton—they're a new band that sounds a lot like Failure and they totally rule. Cloakroom is another band that I've kept my eyes on pretty closely. Their debut LP Further Out is awesome, as well as their brand new album Time Well. There's a pop artist named Alex Cameron that is super good, I've been jamming his old record Jumping the Shark, and have been listening to the singles from his new album Forced Witness as those trickle out. Excellent 80's-throwback pop.

Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
If we could make ourselves into a heavy Kate Bush cover band, that would literally be a dream come true. We're working on getting together a cover of "Running Up That Hill" right now, actually.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
Plans for the future include regional and light touring, as well as trying to get to Austin this spring for SXSW, and starting work on a full-length album next year as well.

Q: Any parting words?
Listen to Intruder very loudly, and with good headphones. - The Blog That Celebrates Itself

Will Erickson has played drums in bands such as The Travel Guide, Spirit of the Stairs and Bridegeist, but a few years ago he wanted to see if he could return to another musical love, guitar, and write songs for a project that, at least at first, existed only at his home. That project would eventually become the band Team Tremolo.

“It was probably about two years of me doing demos in GarageBand, playing all the instruments,” he says. “I think I spent about a year-and-a-half with the demos until I felt like I couldn’t really expand on the ideas without some other input. I thought I’d be good to get some people together and see what kind of synergy we could have. How we could expand this stuff beyond what I could do myself.”

He eventually got some help from his friend Ryan Stoldt in the writing process, then turned to his bandmates in The Travel Guide, including guitarists Kristyn Chapman and Thayne Coleman as well as bassist Caleb Drummond for further support. Then he called in vocalist Jenny Wood, who lent a hand with lyrics as well.

Wood penned lyrics for two of the five songs on the group’s EP, Intruder. Wood recognized something familiar in the lyrics that Erickson had shown her and found it easy to adapt her writing and performing styles to Erickson's.

“I recognized what he was going for,” she says. “It’s [about] shortening your entire thought into three or four words. I recognized what Will was doing because I used to do that.”

Erickson had first considered handling the vocals himself, adding that he was “lucky” to have Wood take an interest in his material.

“I thought, ‘I’m just going to work until I can sing well.’ That would have taken so long,” he says. “I decided that I’d just focus on playing guitar and maybe writing some lyrics and having Jenny delivering the songs in a meaningful way. Because I can’t sing well.”

“That’s not true,” Wood says.

“It is true,” Erickson says.

“Will has a beautiful voice," Wood says. "Tenor or mezzo tenor."

That the members know each other well on a personal and musical level is an added plus for Wood, who sees working with Team Tremolo as a freeing experience.

“Even the smallest criticism in a band setting affects me,” she says. “It affects me to where I shut down and I just conform to what I think they would want me to do. With this band/family that we have, I’m so comfortable with them. I love them and it helps me to get out there, creatively.”

Team Tremolo performs Saturday night at Harvester Arts as part of this year's ICT Fest. - KMUW

Up until a few years ago, the genre of shoegaze was nowhere to be seen. But one event after another brought distorted guitars and atmospheric vocals back into the public conscience — specifically, the returns of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride. It seems that the craze has spread to the United States, and now even the heartland state of Kansas is getting in on the action. Wichita natives Team Tremolo give shoegaze an immersive edge with Intruder EP. While they don’t necessarily forge a unique path across the release’s five songs, they show their potential to deliver quality tunes nonetheless.

Opener “Slipping the Noose” burns slow, but it also burns bright. As the instruments crash down in unison, the band spews out elements of sludgy alternative rock and noise rock. The combination of genres is nothing new, but Team Tremolo undoubtedly captures the listener’s attention with exciting build-ups and energetic vocals. The song’s biggest selling point is a memorable guitar riff, but moody baselines and whispering guitar chords add a lot to like. Unlike the first track’s careful focus, “The Waif” feels a lot more wiry. Splattering the canvas with groovy melodies and reverberating ambience, it’s a solid jam session from beginning to end.

The next track, “Safe Intruder” continues to find the band digging into their atmosphere, as it slowly climbs before erupting in grungy guitar parts and drum smashes. Singer Jenny Wood holds everything together as the instrumentalists chug along. Don’t expect anything heavenly like Bilinda Butcher or dreamy like Rachel Goswell, as Wood pierces through the noise with rugged emotion throughout the release. “Blood Moon” returns to the structure of the opener, with tranquil verses contrasting heavy choruses and allowing both to be felt in full. “Worship You” is the EP’s best ‘90s tribute, with religious references and ambient guitars reminding heavily of Souvlaki. Yet, the band still finds time to do what they do best: crushing listeners with their alt-rock vigor.

There’s no doubt that Team Tremolo wants to be associated with the shoegaze genre. After all, it’s in their name. Even if they don’t yet stick sonically like other modern acts Nothing or Whirr, they still showcase their expert knowledge and skills on this five-song romp. It’s clear from this introduction that they click as a unit — and more than that, they also have the ability to write crafty songs. Intruder EP displays this fivepiece’s tight-knit, rock-oriented shoegaze sound in full force, simultaneously showing that they have plenty of room to progress. - Mind Equals Blown

Best EPs (Releases with a running time of 30 minutes or less)


1.Intruder—Team Tremolo
2.The Wichita Flag—The Wichita Flag
3.Dik Dik Sounds—The World Palestine
4.Tunnel Vision—Kill Vargas
5.Waste of Kings—Bridegeist
6.Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations—Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations
7.Learn To Swim—The Cavves
8.Consolation Prize—Old News
9.When The Sun Shines—Shawn Craver
10.Traveler—William Flynn - KMUW

Wasting no time getting to the weightiest of guitars, Intruder, the debut EP by Team Tremolo, makes like their forefathers, Hum, and break for a melodic verse. Sung with a vulnerable flutter, Jenny Wood breaks the clouds of distorted guitars layered by songwriter and band founder William Erickson, guitarist Kristyn Chapman and additional guitarist Thayne Coleman. “Slipping the Noose” starts the release seemingly melancholic and gives rise to an optimistic tone. Bassist Caleb Drummond adds splashes of color to the dense walls of distorted guitar.

Heavily referencing early nineties shoegaze, but not stuck in the darker melodic themes of Grunge-Rock, Team Tremolo allows for occasional jubilation. The soft/loud dynamic constructed by pioneers The Pixies and honed by their successors like Shiner, is evident on Intruder. The low-tuned guitar dredge is noticeably inspired by the wonderful production on Failure’s 1996 release, Fantastic Planet.

The second song, but first single off Intruder, “The Waif” reveals more hook-laden vocals over a repeated chorus and outros with a thick, dissonant guitar architecture that builds tension while somehow simultaneously resolving. Guitar melodies poke out of the corners and recede back into the walls, some fighting each other, others complimenting.

“Safe Intruder” starts like a Sunny Day Real Estate song and slowly crawls to some of the more tantalizingly produced vocals on Intruder. Sounding both like a whisper and distant yell, Wood's vocals make way for slamming guitars and rise above the almost cement-like riffage. "Safe Intruder" sounds like a typical pop arrangement, until the second chorus builds to the album's closest nod to Dinosaur Jr. Dissonant and surprising, the bridge climax ultimately lands on a cloud of bass-driven melody, only to return to the main chorus. The inventive songwriting provides a bed for some wonderful guitar production, but comes off a bit wanton.

“Blood Moon” Is intricately detailed and wonderfully orchestrated, making room for almost synth-pad-like guitar swelling over transient guitar trickles. The most joyous sounding song overall, “Blood Moon” is a perfect canvas for Wood to design some of her most heart wrenching vocal melodies. A Perfect Circle is a quick reference for most listeners over the age of thirty, but that would be selling this song short on representing Team Tremolo’s most unique song on Intruder.

Closing song, “Worship You”, seems to cull the whole of what Team Tremolo is aiming to provide and express to their audience. The ambition is big and the payoff is wonderful. Starting with gentle guitar work over ethereal vocals, the verse sounds like it was drawn from a Malkmus playbook and arranged specifically for Team Tremolo. The set-up is genius, considering the amount of guard let down leading into the bridge. The explosive and chunky guitar is both gratifying and bludgeoning. The distortion fades and the final recall of the opening melody closes Intruder like that of a bedtime story—intimate and soothing.

Recorded at Air House Studios with Micajah Ryan and David Lord, Erickson worked closely with Ryan on the production of Intruder. Mastered by JJ Golden, this release will grab broad attention and will attempt to hold listeners by treating these guitar laden, darkly atmospheric songs with an ear keen to produce pop worthy hooks and melodies. Buy Intruder August 29th by any means you consume digital music. - We Are Wichita

Although I have not seem them live, I have seen other bands that contain similar variations of the same band members. (Travel Guide, Twin Cities, Jenny Wood, Wonder Revolution, etc.) Knowing the band members previous music, Team Tremolo really took me by surprise. What I’ve noticed in comparison, is that even though they are fairly mellow, Team Tremolo is much harder and darker than any of their previous collaborations. It’s not angry. But it does posses a slightly more intense and aggressive tone than what I was expecting.

Ghost-like vocals are blended into a multi-layered wall of sound; there are plenty of dynamics though. Even when chorus’ are in full swing, the levels are still pretty even. What I like about this album is how each instrument can be doing their own thing one minute and then the band can be all together the next.

Let’s talk about “The Waif”. The effects on the vocals are pretty cool. At times it is difficult to discern what she is saying though. During the chorus, the lyrics “How can anybody breathe, when you’re around?” Right after the high note in “breathe” the guitar hits a high note. I don’t know why, but I really liked this particular part. It’s kinda like a call-response.
What Team Tremolo does exceptionally well is little mini-build ups. Right before the chorus with a DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN!!! The drums build up little by little in the chorus too. Then after the chorus another DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN!!! The interlude after the chorus (2:45) is a prime example of how everybody breaks away and does their own thing. There is a neat effect that fades in and out, almost like a swell. Reminds me of when you play a track backwards. At 3:16 the drums bring everyone back together for another buildup then continues with neat poly-rhythmic symbol work. Another small mini-buildup leads to a grand-chorus. The final chorus adds additional layer after layer of guitar work, special effects and symbols to add intensity. I can tell that this song will be powerful live. It draws you in as it adds more layers. Part of me wanted the buildups to last a bit longer and get a bit heavier. I think they cut the builds short on purpose to make the final chorus more epic. It’s a smart way to go about making the song more dynamic.

I also really enjoyed “Safe Intruder”. The intro and first verse feels like I’m lazily floating along in the clouds in a dream-like state. When it comes in heavy at 1:32, I get into the heavy chords and what sounds like a cool string bend. (might be a hammer-on) The guitars are very pleasantly layered for the chorus. It is drastically different from the floating in the clouds feeling from the verse. You can hear a natural tremolo/vibrato in the vocals too. It’s neatly unique. The chorus is really full and catchy. I think it might be a bit of an illusion. By cutting the verse into something so small and basic, then adding the full body for the chorus; its just a smart way to use dynamics. - TastyBass