Power trios

[JimmyM]

ever do much power trio rocking? i think nin after josh and alessandro split is about the smallest band i've seen you in (i'm talking members, not spectacle ), but do you ever cut loose with just you, a guitarist, and drummer as the instrumentation with no electronic help?

was wondering your thoughts (and everyone else's if they'd like to discuss it) on the format. you really don't see much of it anymore. and the ones you do see always hire extra dudes for shows or use tracks or looping or whatever to augment the sound. other than a handful of doom/stoner bands, you don't see bands doing the guitar/bass/drums thing hardly at all anymore. has the power trio become obsolete?

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Oh man, what's not to love about power trios. I was in one, a local band in LA called This Great Religion...very Anglo-centric kind of college rock: reminiscent of Curve, MBV, Love & Rockets meets REM. We had a small following and a bit of label interest. Split up in '93 before I joined Medicine. We got a lot done, including turning on and off tape loops via tape machines connected to power strips (!) and triggering other loops that we would enter on the fly into Korg SDD-2000 digital delays, lots of pedals, etc. Super geeky. Lots of pedals.

Anyway, after that, not much of that action for me, though I would be strongly NOT opposed to being in one today.

Plenty of power trios these days, namely: Deerhoof (part of the time), MMW, Boris, Young Knives, and that rad Detroit band that isn't around anymore: Whirlwind Heat....and how about Muse?

JMJ

 

[poppinsmac]

Wow... I'm just wrote a very long response and accidentally closed the window.

So... to summarize.
I love trios. I play in two of them that are totally opposite styles and both in the writing stages. The band I have been playing with for the last two years was a five piece cover band (The Band, Neil Young, Joe Cocker, Beatles, Zeppelin, yadda yadda yadda) with lots of soloing from all members, so I'm really digging the trios and having space to move around without stepping on any toes or making the songs sound too busy.

Deerhoof

Hm... I've been listening to them for a few years now and it never clicked that they were a three piece.

Justin - did This Great Religion record any albums? I did a quick search and couldn't find anything.

Anyways, gotta go. Am just about to get picked up to go jam/write with one of my trios!

 

[jmjbassplayer]

We put out two 7" singles and some cassettes that we sold at shows. Good times.

 

[billoetjen]

Two words:
Material Issue.

Power trios are the essence.

 

[JimmyM]

cool...glad to see the format is alive and well. i'm not quite as in touch as i should be, i guess. only got to check out deerhoof and boris so far...like them both. deerhoof is a little on the quirky side but i'm relating. also, i love muse, but would debate their power trio status these days when they carry extra guys

thanks for the tips on new power trios...i'll check out more of them when i have the time.

 

[poppinsmac]

Wolfmother rocked a pretty awesome trio, as well.

 

[JimmyM]

that's true...wolfmother was pretty good.

 

[Joe Gress]

Russian Circles
Torche
Dub Trio
High On Fire
Young Widows
Melvins (wait, they've got two drummers)

 

[JimmyM]

melvins also aren't so new

 

[Joe Gress]

melvins also aren't so new

True, especially their power trio days. Jared Warren and Coady Willis (2nd drummer and bassist for the melvins) played with Scott Martin in Big Business for a bit as a power trio.

Totimoshi is also another good trio.

 

[3rdcurve]

I'm really digging the trios and having space to move around without stepping on any toes or making the songs sound too busy.

+1 We added a second guitarist two years ago, and I find myself really enjoying the nights he misses rehearsal.

 

[Marty Forrer]

I play in two trios, but I dunno about the power bit, more like whisper trios!

 

[Basshappi]

Allen Woody era Govt Mule = Awesome trio.
Niacin is excellent too
The majority of bands that I have been in have been trios and I play in one now. Sure, larger bands are fun especially the guitar/bass/drums/keys format but there is just something about trios that really works for me.

Cheers!

 

[donnybrook]

+1 for High on Fire! I played in a crappy jazz improv class with Matt when he was in Sleep.

Primus; still great.

If we're extending the discussion to trio-plus-singer, can I claim "first" on Tool? . See also Oxbow.

 

[Shakin-Slim]

I played in a power trio for a good few years. The Moon Dogs. What great fun! We originally had 2 guitarists but started jamming about an hour before he came around so we'd have all our Cream/Experience/Sabbath goodness out of the way before he wanted to play Diamond Head and what not. When that guitarist left we carried on jamming for a good while and made a couple of recordings. Was great fun, but part way through I started to wish we had an organ or some form of keyboard.

 

[change-jug]

Here`s a "power trio" of a different sort: Genghis Tron. 1 guitar player,1 dude on vocals and keyboards and 1 dude doing keyboards and drum programing. They use FL Studio and Ableton Live for the drum programming along with a bunch of different synths for their sound. I was just getting into them when I had a chance to see them live and they blew me away!
Now I`m a complete fan of them! I know other heavy bands have used drum machines in the past(agoraphobic nosebleed comes to mind along with NIN),but the amount of energy that these three guys produce in a live setting is nuts!

 

[Rajamundis]

Hello,this is my first post on this forum.

I´m gonna add my fauvorite power trio. "Los Natas". They´re from Argentina and they are somekind of jam/stoner mystical band, they´re a lot into the old style and they do a lot of "just record and see what happens" thing.

And they usually record with mr. Billy Anderson.

 

[NorthTexasBass]

Anyway, after that, not much of that action for me, though I would be strongly NOT opposed to being in one today.

JMJ

JMJ, here's a hypothetical for you - Let's say I just hit the lotto and have backed the Brinks truck up to your house. I've given you big time budget and complete control. I need a power trio. Who are you going after?

 

[vegas532]

Awesome power trio = Autolux.