Royal Trux / Royal Trux/ Twin Infinitives/ Untitled (Skulls)/ Cats And Dogs

Royal Trux
Royal Trux/Twin Infinitives/Untitled (Skulls)/Cats And Dogs
(Domino/Drag City)

In 1987, Neil Hagerty decided to leave underground heroes Pussy Galore. Pursuing a very different path to his former band mate Jon Spencer, he joined up with his girlfriend Jennifer Herrema to form Royal Trux.
Producing their material largely under a haze of drugs, the duo started off with the brittle and chaotic debut album ‘Royal Trux' (1988). With a certain frenzied sleaze running throughout it, the record frequently sounded like it'd been recorded on the tail-end of a bender. From the Stooges-like howl of opener ‘Bad Blood’ through to the deranged give-a-fuck guitars of ‘Sanction Smith’, the record remains a great boundary-pushing debut, part Teenage Jesus meets Captain Beefheart and part Sonic Youth recorded in a dustbin.
Signing to Drag City for their ambitious sequel, ‘Twin Infinitives’ (1990) is a double album which features echo-filled and grumbled vocals, zapping lasers, and on '(Edge of The) Ape Oven’, the sound of a tin can being half heartedly beaten for fifteen minutes.
This is the sound of a band that probably have no idea what they're doing, but sound refreshing and exciting nonetheless. On ‘Ice Cream’ you can hear exactly what the Kills were trying to achieve on their debut record, but the purity of Royal Trux's rip-it-up and start again ethos means that rarely has anyone matched their primal deconstruction.
A couple of years later and it’s a different matter altogether on the untitled record which was nicknamed 'Skulls’ (1992).
The band had hinted at a little more warmth on the previous album's ‘Florida Avenue Theme’, but no-one could've expected the glowing, acoustically led ‘Air’. Almost a modern sunshine blues number, it's a cocooning euphoric number that see’s Hagerty and Herrema’s vocals swoon to recall the West Cost hippies of the early 70s.
Naturally it only lasts a moment, as ‘Hallucinations’ crashes in with three minutes of feedback, noise and thrashing guitars - but the record does keep up the balance between aggressive rock 'n roll and acoustic guitars.
Sober and expanded to a four piece, 'Cats & Dogs' (1993) is the band's highly accomplished attempt at mood music; never before have they slipped through highs and lows so smoothly. Innovative and exciting these reissues by Domino will reintroduce Royal Trux to a larger audience and hopefully propel them to the wider acclaim that they so deserve. At best they are exciting and dirty and at worst, just plain dirty and uncompromising.