Trez Rek 500's new release, "Passing Signs" draws us into a pure melodic storm of feeling and energy, part desert highway anthem, part late-night soul-searching. The DNA echoes of Foo Fighters' grit, Arctic Monkeys' swagger, and Queens of the Stone Age's grooves swirled with a generous dollop of West Coast panorama. However, this is not a band that has been pursuing shadows. Trez Rek 500 is crafting their sound, too, and "Passing Signs" is their most arresting statement to date.
Carv Tefft's vocals are a standout here, full of hurt yet strong, defiant yet not aloof. He negotiates the push-pull of longing and meditation as though pursuing a memory down a stretching, empty road. Tony Morosini doubles on drums and guitar, anchoring a rhythm section that's tight but alive, and new bassist Nick Morosini contributes the muscular low end that establishes the track's pulse and punch. There are recollections here, like flipping through dusty mixtapes in the glovebox of a beat-up car parked under neon lights. The hooks this time are precise and calculated, but the atmosphere oozes with something more. Think the Killers' romantic urgency swimming in My Morning Jacket's smoky reverb, with a trace of Hoodoo Gurus' jangly edge and Tragically Hip's poetic ambiguity.
"Passing Signs" carries weight like signals missed, or times when we only realize we missed them later on. That hazy ambiguity is one of the things that makes the track land. It doesn't have answers, but it knows what the questions are. Love? Loss? A town you left too soon? A girl you never really had?
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