It's time to invent another genre that uses the "core" suffix. I'm calling it "mellowcore." How totally oxymoronic is that? Still, Tram isn't quite slow enough to be slowcore, and it isn't sad enough to be sadcore; it exists in that category of incredibly sincere yet slightly spaced-out bands like the Red House Painters and Damon and Naomi. Maybe it should be called "sincerecore." In any case, Tram is quite mellow, and very sincere. Which makes it such good make-out music for indie kids.
You laugh, but I'm serious. Heavy Black Frame is the sensitive indie boy's version of Sarah McLachlan's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. You want to show a girl how sensitive you are while still trying desperately to get in her pants? Put this on, and poof! Pants problem solved. Tram's music is soft and pretty, and has just the right amount of quavering, English-accented melancholy without getting too wretchedly depressing. Granted, it's nothing so bag-of-hammers obvious as "And I will be the one/ To hold you down/ Kiss you so hard/ I'll take your breath away," but it'll do the trick.
Heavy Black Frame also works well for those nights when you're drinking alone because the girl whose pants you were trying to get into won't return your calls. Sober, you might realize that Tram's songwriting is a bit slight; Heavy Black Frame begins with the exceptionally gorgeous "Nothing Left to Say" and proceeds down a gentle incline for the rest of the album. Every now and then, an instrumental flourish will remind you briefly of some other band-- the Mazzy Star-ish slide guitar on "Too Scared to Sleep," or the oboe on "I've Been Here Once Before" that recalls a very, very sleepy Tortoise. When it ends, you'll feel refreshed, but you won't remember much about the album. And if you're drunk like I am, you won't give two shits either way; you'll be too busy feeling sorry for yourself and moping along to "Reason Why."
So, what have we learned today? Here's the Cliffs Notes recap: Tram equals sincere, mellow sonic wallpaper, you're not going to get any, and I want to pork Sarah McLachlan. Class dismissed!
