THOMAS TRUAX + CHRISTIAN LE SURF – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 10.10.25
A Thomas Truax set is much more than a gig. It’s a multi–sensory experience; a 3D, 360 degree piece of highly skilled musical performance art. Inventor, recounter and songwriter Truax would fit perfectly in a David Lynch or Tim Burton Film or could be a warm sophisticated Steam Punk Dr Seuss character. His shows are always breathtaking. Like the troubadours and balladeers of olde, he travels around with his songs, stories and band of misfit musicians, only in this case his bandmates are all steam punk mechanical creations made by Truax himself.
His shows are always uplifting, wise moving and darkly witty – an immersive experience that makes you wonder just HOW he creates a symphony’s worth of soundscapes armed with only his guitar ‘Hank’, a loop pedal and evolving band of self-made instruments including ‘Mother Superior,’ a glistening motorized drum machine made of bike wheels, drums, cymbals and more, a souped-up Dr. Seuss style Gramophone horn called the ‘Hornicator’ and the stunning ‘Stringaling’. Tonight, we met his brand new ‘band member’, Jacob, a multicoloured cascading row of wooden squares who took the limelight for one song only, yet he was as lovingly ‘mic’d’ up as the others. One thing is for sure, if ever Thomas Truax is within a 10 mile radius of Brighton we’ll be there cheering him along.
There would be no need for TV if you had Thomas Truax in your corner. You can imagine him entertaining Kings and Queens in court in days of yore with his curiosities, stories and musical prowess and, as we know, it is often the minstrels and jesters who are the wisest and who can say what others can’t through the window of wit.
His stagecraft is unparallelled, enchanting and jaw dropping in equal measure. With his band of mechanical inventions, he creates unique sounds that sit in the space between art-rock, post-punk, rockabilly, steam punk and his own distinctive brand of surreal Americana. It’s no wonder that he has so many high profile fans and collaborators that including Jarvis Cocker, Duke Special, Richard Hawley, drummer Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, Violent Femmes), the late author Terry Pratchett, as well as Budgie from Siouxsie and the Banshees, who collaborated with him on his 2023 ‘Dream Catching Songs’ album. Truax has released ten studio LPs to date including a highly-rated covers album ‘Songs From The Films Of David Lynch’.
Thomas has the power to transform any room he’s in, into a surreal Avant-Garde space and tonight at the iconic Prince Albert the sound clarity and lighting in the venue was perfect to emphasise the heavier aspects of his sound – to engulf the room in his world and crisp and clear and resonant enough to highlight the deeply moving and existential aspects of his his timeless poetically evocative songs about insects, trees, technology, love, and a lifelong fascination with the Moon. Having seen him in 2023 at the Green Door Store in Brighton and Fitzroy House in Lewes, (Review HERE) we knew we were about to enter into another universe.
Taking to the stage like a charming Gothic Troubadour next to his shimmering mechanical bandmate Mother Superior he said, “Thanks for having me. This is a true story about domestic living”. Closing his eyes he played a melismatic riff on his guitar, Hank and sang the most beautiful ‘Free Floaters’ song about his neighbours who “Don’t speak much English” and have “the tenderest feelings”. “He works so hard every day…..They’re always singing to their new baby. I’ve never heard a trio quite so happy”. It was such a stunningly moving track that brought tears to the eyes, it’s exactly the sort of song that the world needs right now. A revolving hand fan, then fan plucked the strings of the guitar, in a lightly quivering fashion, echoing the universal human fragility and the lightness of the floating dandelion seeds.
After huge cheers, he then held up the bronze horn of the Hornicator to his ear, with a mic inside and started performing the glorious ‘The Precarious Walz’, tapping, looping and pulling strings, into a surreal underwater avant garde stomp. As he waltzed with the Hornicator. We were in Truax’s wonky world – in his parallel ‘Wow Town’ and it was glorious. “Join in if you so feel inclined” he said with charm. It was so dark, stylish and utterly convincing. We need a Tim Burton – Thomas Truax collaboration asap! He sang with a dystopian swing “Time is a merry go round happiness a moving target” ending with “That Dance of Death and that dance of life they walk so precariously”. Looping his voice to echo multitudes, you could imagine an animated row of omniscient skeletons waltzing across the stage singing universal truths. Of course, in his day job moons ago, he was an animator for MTV’s ‘Celebrity Death Match’ and Cartoon Network’s ‘Robot Chicken’ so the visual side of his performance is as meticulously crafted and spellbinding as the musical side.
We realised, then, that we were seeing him in the best month. It was time for October Horror as he broke into the stunning cavernous rhythms of ‘Everything’s Gone Halloween’ with funky percussion and upbeat vocals being punctuated by the strings of the Hornicator. He stuck his head inside the horn of the instrument and started playing a Kazoo. It was wonderfully surreal and led to such a laugh from the crowd, even if many of us had seen him before, we never knew what was going to happen next. After a hazy wall of sound, he broke into the upbeat stomp of ‘Everything’s Going To Be Alright’, a swinging track that the crowd loved and could easily be a mantra for the 21st Century dystopia that we find ourselves in!
He then closed his eyes, as he plucked the cascading strings of Hank and sung the most breathtaking evocative version of ‘I’m Derranged’ – A David Bowie and Brian Eno track and we felt like we were in a David Lynch movie. Truax had released an album of the ‘Songs From The Films Of David Lynch’ in 2009 and this was a beautifully fragile and emotive soul bearing version of this track – once again bringing tears to the eyes. It felt like every edge of the human condition was touched on in this immersive set.
He then mentioned his latest album ‘Dream Catching Songs’ which featured Budgie from Siouxsie and the Banshees as a co-drummer with Mother Superior. Truax said pointing to his shimming mechanical bandmate who stood next to him on the stage. “Those two got on really well and I was afraid that they were going to run off and form a duo without me but fortunately Mother Superior came back and I think that the fact that he lives in Berlin made it difficult didn’t it?” he said pointing to her as the crowd laughed “Anyway I’m glad that you’re still with me”. He went over to Mother Superior and said, “Let’s do a song together” and she started off the steady beat of one of my favourite Thomas Truax Songs – the stunning ‘Wonderful Kind Of Strange’. Gloriously cinematic, and spellbinding, it’s a spine tingling, widescreen, soul–opening track.
The acoustics in The Prince Albert emphasised the dark beauty of this song further as its melismatic tones blossomed throughout the room, then during the stunning outro Mother Superior- the mechanical drummer decided to go through a free jazz phase-Truax still played in unison with her before saying. “A mechanical drummer is usually the most steady, reliable kind… She’s lately got into this ‘Free Jazz style”. The audience laughed as he handled Mother Superior’s off beat tantrum brilliantly. He reset her and completed the stunning track in style. It made the ‘Wonderful Kind Of Strange’ lyrics even more prescient as the crowd whooped and Truax said, “Maybe she’s copying Budgie. He’s very good at doing these very weird fills. Are you trying to emulate him?” he asked Mother Superior. I have never seen her miss a beat before, but the free jazz made the set even more charming. This warm personification of the creations is another element of the show that makes it so enthralling.
He then burst into a fan favourite leaping off the stage and into the crowd saying “This is a song about where I grew up..If you look up amongst the stars what can you make out?”. He projected a moon onto the ceiling from the neck of his guitar, Hank and many went “Ahh” in anticipation. He said. “In Wow Town where I grew up, whenever we see this- everybody, all the aunts, uncles, groundhogs, centipedes we run down to the churchyard and do this little song!” and then 80% of the crowd joined him in singing “Well there’s a full moon over Wow Town tonight” as he wove through the crowd immersing us in his world then disappearing out the door and appearing standing on top of the merch table at the back of the room. He leapt off the table and he wove back through the crowd taking us on a lyrical tour of Wow Town before leaping back on stage to be reaccompanied by Mother Superior on drumming duties before hovering over the crowd and performing an ultra version of the song with a surreal, glitchy VHS energy, before speeding up and leaping back into the crowd It was utterly hypnotising as he spun around the room singing with Hank the guitar and soundtracking the ‘crickets a chirping.’
Truax and Mother Superior then played a gloriously ‘off beat’ version of Patsy Cline’s ‘Crazy’ with Mother Superior performing her drumming duties to perfection. He then introduced us to Jacob “The Newest Member of this travelling troop. He’s laidback, more than the rest of ‘em. I think. He hasn’t done anything yet tonight, but we are going to get him involved. He only plays on one song”. He pointed to Jacob, a multicoloured cascading row of wooden squares that was as lovingly mic’d up as the others. He spoke about his Full Moon Club, where people subscribe and “I try to come up with a new piece of something every month when the moon is full…Most of the time because of the deadline it challenges me to do something somewhat creative and Jacob came from this”. He broke into a blossoming version of ‘Rolling With The Moon’ and then as if by magic, Jacob starts rolling and cascading like a row of multicoloured dominos creating a wave of light percussion, bringing another layer to add to Mother Superior’s steady beats. It was such a charming curiosity.
He spoke of his long journey past Stonehenge and asked the crowd if they wanted “The really crazy weird stuff or the semi- weird stuff” and everyone in the crowd shouted “CRAZY”. Holding up the Hornicator to his ear he regaled the crowd with a witty tale of his dog Doug and a picnic with a load of ants who made beards on his face, plucking the Hornicator to echo the sound of the ants walking, he scraped a comb across the Hornicator started playing ‘Why Dogs Howl At The Moon’, a witty existential track where the dog Doug asks “When was the last time you looked up at the stars and realized how small and narrowly focused you are?”. He sang of the dog saying “At least those ants aren’t making a giant carbon footprint”. The entire room laughed Truax howled into the Hornicator and we all joined in howling at the Moon! We were in Traux’s surreal world and it was glorious. Laughter erupted further. How many other artists could get a whole room of people howling at the moon?
The Stringaling then came out to play. “The Stringaling is made from a bongo drum in Mexico and a bunch of other stuff that you pull strings on and it makes noise” he said, It looked like it had a tumble dryer hose attached. “This song is mostly instrumental. It’s called ‘You Whistle While You Sleep’. It’s prison slang and it’s an explanation of what happens when you’re in prison and you’ve got secrets”. He banged the bongos and looped it, then proceeded to pull and record a load of mechanical gadgets around the Stringaling, tying one of the longer strings to a fan on the wall and plucking it. It was amazing, like seeing a mad professor at work. The sounds all layered on top of each other as he played a slide whistle attached to the instrument to create a comic snoring with different sound effects before lying ‘sleeping’ and revealing secrets on the floor. No matter how many times we see the Stringaling being played to this song it’s always different and always utterly witty, inventive and enthralling! Waking and creating an intense wall of sound with Hank, he said, “I would play forever, but it’s the limits of sanity for all of us!” he said to laughs from the crowd “Play Forever!” came lots of enthusiastic cries from the crowd. “Come tomorrow night!” he said and many people shouted “YEA!”
The lights dimmed as he donned a pair of revolving glasses made of hand fans with rainbow lights, giving the illusion of multi-coloured bees eyes as he held up the Hornicator. He tapped and looped the horn as his multi-coloured revolving eyes caught and rotated against the mic inside the Hornicator like a buzzing bee. He launched into the buoyant funky ‘Beehive Heart’. The words “I’ve got a Beehive Heart Wahooo” swarmed and echoed in the most magical way meaning that you had no idea where the noise was coming from. You’ve never seen anything like it. The cheers were huge!
With yells of ‘More!’, he played ‘The Butterfly And The Entomologist’, by request. He told the story of a hitchhiker butterfly with a two feet wingspan, who was injured and asked him for a ride and then sang the most achingly beautiful song. Picking up a hand fan to make the strings of his guitar quiver he gave voice to the butterfly who sang “I’m going to a no man’s land because men and violence are intertwined”. It was stunning. He created worlds within worlds and it was easy to forget that it was a busy Friday in Brighton. We were transported to Wow Town. He gazed into the air as we imagined the butterfly flying off triumphantly as the strings quivered. It was magical.
“I’m going to end with a lullaby” he said, “This is a song told from the perspective of a child or an inner-child. I hope you all stay safe on your way home tonight and don’t feel scared”. It was so beautifully warm and whimsical. He sang, “Heart be strong….Be brave hold on, to the dream catching song!”. It was an exquisite way to ease us back into the real world! A sonic talisman to take us home from our dark, beautiful and shimmering trip to Truax’ stunning and surreal world- a journey that we’d all want to go on again and again!
Thomas Truax setlist:
‘Free Floaters’ (from 2023 ‘Dream Catching Songs’ album)
‘Precarious Waltz’ (from 2023 ‘Dream Catching Songs’ album)
‘Everything’s Gone Halloween’ (from 2012 ‘Monthly Journal’ album)
‘Everything’s Going To Be All Right’ (2023 ‘Dream Catching Songs’ album)
‘I’m Deranged’ (from 2009 ‘Songs From The Films Of David Lynch’ album)
‘A Wonderful Kind Of Strange’ (from 2023 ‘Dream Catching Songs’ album)
‘Full Moon Over Wowtown’ (from 2004 ‘Full Moon Over Wowtown’ album)
‘Crazy’ (Patsy Cline cover)
‘Rolling With The Moon’ (a 2025 single)
‘Why Dogs Howl At The Moon’ (2007 ‘Why Dogs Howl At The Moon’ album)
‘You Whistle While You Sleep’ (2007 ‘Why Dogs Howl At The Moon’ album)
‘Beehive Heart’ (from 2010 ‘Sonic Dreamer’ album)
‘The Butterfly And The Entomologist’ (from 2007 ‘Audio Addiction’ album)
‘Dream Catching Song’ (from 2023 ‘Dream Catching Songs’ album)
Christian Le Surf was the perfect artist to open Truax’s set, with a keen group of fans who surrounded the stage, he opened with, “I usually have loopers and effects boards, usually with songs, but I thought in all things good and quirky I’m going to do 30 minutes of improv only with no songs”. Inspired by Truax, he was taking a no holds barred- boundary-pushing approach to the set. “There are no songs. This is one 30 minute jam on the loop pedal.” With a tie-dye top, sunglasses and socks to feel the vibration of the music, he embodied every note.
Layering a bed of chords with melodic ornamentation it was a ‘Lemon Jelly’ like opening – moving onto a hazy My Bloody Valentine wall of sound, laced with fierce shredding over melismatic textures cascading impressionistic melodies and Polyrhythmic riffs, punctuated with beatboxing and a shaker. It was genre pushing and avant garde as he layered up the percussion, showcasing the full extent of Le Surf’s skill going from post-rock, folk and indie pop to funk and jazz and nostalgia infused riff heavy gritty shredding crashed into a hazy wall of sound and then laced up into Vampire Weekend style twinkles.
He never fitted neatly into one genre, but moved and zig zagged skilfully from one texture to another like Mudu Moctar. His hypnotic set had the crowd spellbound – the swirls on his t-shirt echoed by the swirls in the soundscapes. He was warm and charming and bursting with talent. We know that with an improvised show it will never be the same twice, but the full scope of Le Surf’s musical talent was showcased in this boundary pushing set and we can’t wait to hear him play again.
linktr.ee/christianlesurfmusic
