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The
Word April 2007 www.wordmagazine.co.uk
I'm
not entirely sure why it is, but I tend to like bands who
clearly couldn't exist without the Pet Shop Boys (Junior Boys,
Lorraine, um, Trademark) without actually being that keen
on the originals. This undoubtedly highlights some yawning
great flaw in my personality, but Raise the Stakes isn't going
to be the record to end it. For a start there are the songs,
Toe The Line and Come To Love are great, but Stuck In A Rut
sounds like it's been recorded straight from a mangled Boots
C60 they found in the back of their mum's Austin Maxi. And
they're so deadpan I fear for the health of their kitchen
implements. How Times Change appears to have been put together
on a home computer of the Sinclair stripe. It's a minute long.
Self Pity lasts 90 seconds. Hello, are you my new favorite
band?
Rob
Fitzpatrick
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Popjustice
Thurdsay 25th January 2007 www.popjustice.com
It
is electro, it is pop
A
couple of years ago there was this brilliant song called
'Sine Love' by a trio calling themselves Trademark. It was
a blubtastic electroballad. Well, the band are back with
some new clothes and a new album called 'Raise The Stakes'.
It's great. We would particularly like to draw your attention
to 'Come To Love', a stupendously-chorused pop stormer which
sounds like the Pet Shop Boys and OMD knocking back Smirnoff
Ices down the DIY electropop disco.
You
can hear 'Come To Love' (and 'Sine Love', and some other
stuff) in full on their MySpace. More info on their proper
website.
So
there you go.
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Gay
Times Issue 343 April 2007 www.gaytimes.co.uk
After
their (largely ignored) Trademark Want More, it wasn't difficult
to raise the stakes. But they've done it, pushing tempos,
beats and buttons. They've neatly synthesised Fischerspooner
and the Postal Service without loosing their whiff of British
bedroom band. They're still a pub-Rock Petshop Boys and, before
you know it, there will be a 'Nu-Romantics' revolution. Apart
from some misguided epic orchestration - more Wham than Wagner
- this is a fine Electro-Pop album by lovable, roguish underdogs.
But it probably won't be bothering Tesco's shelves any time
soon.
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The
Fly April 2007 www.the-fly.co.uk
While
electropop has spent a tenacious three decades grabbing
at the souls and feet of a yo-yoing audience, it's never
managed to grab much of rock 'n' roll's supply of cool.
Fortuitously, Trademark understand this and gave up trying
to be hip years ago. Their total lack of self-conciousness
allows 'Raise The Stakes' to skate across every conceivable
synth-based genre with wit and confidence. 'Come To Love'
betrays their filtered electro-disco bent, 'Stuck In A Rut'
Straddles the New Order/Kylie divide, and elsewhere everyone
from Stephin Merritt to PSB gets the nod. As standard-bearers,
they'll do just fine.
Charlie
Ivens
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Guardian
Unlimited Friday 9th March 2007 www.guardian.co.uk
Hometown:
Oxford.
The
lineup: Oliver Horton (synths, laptop, vocals), Stuart
Meads (synths, laptop, backing vocals), Paul Soulsby (synths,
laptop, FX).
The
background: Trademark aren't like Ladytron or Adult.
or one of those other new-fangled electroclash combos who
offer a modern take on synthpop, paying homage to it but essentially
moving the music forward. In fact, listen to Trademark and
you'd think you were back in 1981, when scarily coiffed futurists
roamed the streets and the icy plink-plonk of Messrs Yamaha
and Casio ruled the waves.Actually, the Trademark boys did
spend 1981 sporting funny haircuts and making squelching noises,
but that's probably because Stuart was two years old, while
his cousin Oli was a foetus. Still, they developed fast: by
1988, they'd formed a "band" called Technobeat and
penned an album's worth of tunes called Stereo.
Six
years later, the pair, who obviously hadn't even heard of
the Pet Shop Boys, became Trademark. Over the next four years,
they wrote five albums, although only close friends and family
have heard them (and even they had to be heavily sedated).
The 1998 one, Obscure, was fairly appositely (not to mention
PSB-ishly) titled: apparently, six copies were sold via the
Internet, one to a girl in Italy. Or maybe it was a geezer.
Hard to tell with Italian names.
By
the turn of the century, Trademark stopped being a synth duo
like Yazoo and became an electro trio like Yello, drafting
in Soulsby. Their next album, Audiologue, sold a few more
copies than its predecessors and contained early versions
of current Trademark staples. Highlights of the ensuing half-decade
include a Pop CD of the Week in the Times for 2004's Trademark
Want More, and a nationwide tour supporting The Human League.
Throughout 2005 and 2006, Trademark took their melodic electronic
pop plus blank Oakey-does-Iggy basso profundo vocals on the
road and worked on what will be their first widely promoted
album, Raise The Stakes. Start, er, feeling fascination, or
something.
The
buzz: "Come To Love is a stupendously-chorused
pop stormer which sounds like the Pet Shop Boys and OMD knocking
back Smirnoff Ices down the DIY electropop disco."
The
truth: They're calling it "the epitome of 21st
Century pop"; problem is, The Human League et al were
doing 21st Century pop 26 years ago, and this doesn't really
take it to the next level - say, the 22nd Century.
Most
likely to: Get the thumbs up from Pop Justice and
Pop Bitch.
Least
likely to: Have a Number 1 with a song called Don't
You Want My Tainted Love.
File
next to: The Human League, Pet Shop Boys, The Beloved,
Fierce Girl.
What
to buy: The single Come To Love is released by Truck
Records on April 16, with the album Raise The Stakes to follow
on April 23.
Paul
Lester
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The
Sunday Times 4th July 2004 www.timesonline.co.uk
Pop
CD of the week
The
glory days of chart-topping electro-pop — with, at their
summit, such perfect practitioners as Visage, Soft Cell,
Blancmange, early Depeche Mode, Human League, OMD, Erasure
and the Pet Shop Boys — have long since passed. Yet this
hasn’t stopped modern exemplars of the dark art, such as
Ladytron and, in America, the Postal Service, from attempting
to breathe new life into the format. The latest band to
negotiate the wafer-thin line between innovation and archival
pastiche are this Oxford three-piece, who, on the basis
of Trademark Want More, have got the balance right. They
move the form forwards, but their devotion to its hallmarks
— the unlikely but successful coexistence of chilly disengagement
and emotional veracity; aloof vocals that recall Neil Tennant
and Marc Almond; a uniform (in their case, lab coats) that
echoes the music’s surface uniformity; a faith in portentous
synth bass lines and drum machines — betrays the respect
and scholarship of zealots. On tracks as hook-filled, deceptively
detached and sonically billowing as Sine Love, Stay Professional
and Square Wave Anger, Trademark arrive, fully formed, at
the forefront of a still thrilling genre. This remarkable
album, on the tiny but dependably great Truck label, deserves
a huge audience. Four stars
Dan
Cairns
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Tasty
July 2004 www.tastyfanzine.org.uk
Trademark
are adamant that they make pop music, and on the evidence
of ‘Want More’, I’m not gonna argue with them. There seems
to be quite a lot of good music coming out of Oxford at the
moment, but Trademark have set themselves apart somewhat by
pushing out a brand of early neo-80s synth pop. First track
‘My Life in Stereo’ is far too muscular and Mode-esque for
my liking, but second one, ‘Sine Love’ shimmers like a great
New Order track, say, like off ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’.
‘Square Wave Anger’ is industrial-lite, and so it goes throughout
the rest of ‘Want More’. However, underpinning everything
is a definite effort to make great big bloody POP! music.
Not for them a piano-led dirge, or even anything approaching
an epic. Nope, Trademark want it hard, fast and sweet. And
so should you. Oh, and they do the best line in badges. You
must get one.
Sam
Metcalf
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Vanity
Project July 2004 www.geocities.com/vanityprojectfanzine
As
you might expect from a Truck outfit, Trademark hail from
Oxford, but as you might not expect, Trademark’s schtick
involves shiny harmonic synths wrapped in a prickable electronica
bubble. They have that mid-90’s sprightly synth-pop charm,
such as was offered up by Dweeb amongst others back then,
that only youth can bring. However, somewhere between what
Qhixldekx and Trust No One are trying to do down in Portsmouth,
they also move seamlessly to a Pet Shop Boys-like maturity,
a post-millennial Ladytron-esque electronic sheen and on
‘Getting By’, an almost ecological calm a la FortDax. An
excellent debut LP.
Skif
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| Rock
Sound Issue 62 www.rock-sound.net
Funny
not long before sticking this in the CD player I was indulging
a rare urge to listen to Soft Cell. Trademark certainly seam
to be aproaching music from the same seedy back-alley as sex
dwarfs Marc Almond and Dave Ball, seducing with jism-stained
promises of depravity and delight before louchely tossing
it aside (only to bemoan it's loss). Apart from sharing a
similarly sordid electro sound, the duo also share a lovelorn
soulfulness with their forbears that helps round out their
character somewhat - 'Sine Love' for instance is a lovely
synth ballad with a heartbreakingly plantive delivery that'll
have wannabe numanoids weaping into their Wasps. The Kitsch
element here may put off those seeking 'Authenticity' from
their alt-pop, but Trademark are deeply superficial rather
than superficially deep. You dig?
Joe
Stannard
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Drowned
in Sound July 2004 www.drownedinsound.com
Oh,
how I have waited for this album. I have waited long, and
patiently, for a time when Oliver, Stuart and Paul - a.k.a.
Trademark - would have a full album out, and now I have
it in my hands! So, after so much waiting, what do I think
of it?
For
those of you not in the know, Trademark are the epitome
of the nu-wave old-school revival. Whereas bands like The
Futureheads owe a degree of debt to XTC and The Killers
take their cues from most bands with synths and headbands,
Trademark draw their influences from the 80s synth-pop scene
- Soft Cell and The Human League for example - and the end
product possesses such style it's scary.
Opener
'My Life In Stereo' is the sort of song that the Pet Shop
Boys have been trying to reproduce ever since 'Actually',
with a scratchy electro-over-spoken-word intro reminiscent
of a circus ringmaster. It bleeps more than your standard
Nokia mobile whilst all the time remaining slightly dark
and sinister courtesy of the synths in the background.
The
whole album feels like a flashback to two decades ago yet
still manages to sound fresh and new. Tracks like the beautiful
ballad 'Sine Love' prove that Trademark are more than a
mere one-trick pony, whilst 'Interim' makes me want to shuffle
my feet under a shiny disco ball - step the BPM up a notch
and throw in a hip swinging tune for good measure!
It
is kitsch, catchy and plain fun; I couldn't ask for more.
It showcases everything that the band are good at, but -
and I have posed this question numerous times before in
conversation and in my earlier demo review - while their
talent is obvious and their polish more gleaming than the
Crown Jewels, can they make the step up to the big time?
Bands like Baxendale have tried a similar thing and vanished
into thin air. Ladytron and Fischerspooner were once leading
lights, but even they're not shining quite so brightly now.
The
simple fact is - whether they crack the mainstream or not
- that this deserves a place in anyone's record collection,
whether it be as a retrospective, a record to listen to
before going out to dance the night away, or for listening
to on the bus to work. It is, quite simply, an electro cut
above.
Colin
Weston
Drowned
in Sound April 2004 www.drownedinsound.com
The
1980s may have been and gone but the electro-pop sound is
living through a resurgence (look no further than Fischerspooner
for an example). Trademark could be among the pioneers of
the electro nu-wave generation.
Following
on from their superb self-financed mini-album 'Fear:Disconnection',
this five-track continues to showcase their talent. From
the electro-glam 'This Is Our Trademark' onwards, the band
are on to a winner. 'Interim' is a reminder of how good
the Pet Shop Boys used to be in their early eighties peak
with synths and twinkly sound effect.
To
call this a demo is almost an insult as the recording quality
is superb but what else would you expect from a band who
supported The Human League less than a year ago? With their
first real album due out this year on Truck Records. This
could be their last step towards the big time and no-one
can begrudge them that.
Colin
Weston
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| BBC
Oxford June 2003 www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/music
Trademark
are billed as electro pop which worries me slightly. However,
from the moment three guys in lab coats with fairy-light lit
arms appear, something tells me this will be far from the
pale Duran Duran imitators I was expecting.
Two
of them hide themselves behind banks of keyboards and kick
off with a tune welcoming us to their weird and wonderful
world. Luke Smith performs at a previous concert. Coupling
the ice cold coolness of Kraftwerk with the vocal mannerisms
of Neil Tennant, the songs glide and stutter in an effortless
way. Trademark is also probably the only band who could do
a lecture on sound waves mid-set and get away with it. Informative
as well as entertaining!
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Plan
B July 2004 www.planbmag.com
Trademark
are boffins. They grew up together and probably played with
technical lego. Want more is a set of experiments
designed to produce a formula for love: singer Oliver, his
voice swooping and boyishly pretty, sounds rational in his
pursuit of it. You can't hurry love, or science. Behind
him in matching white lab coats, Stuart and Paul have assembled
tools they can trust: Casio, Yamaha, Korg...Their sound
is soft, Kind; controlled to facillitate understanding.
Trademark are staking their reputation on love being found
in the pure pop song; taking on the work abandoned in the
early Eighties by Vince Clarke when he left the institutle
of Depeche Mode (in association with the Kraftwerk tests
carried out by Orchestral Manouevers In The Dark).
On
stage they have been known to demonstrate how love is like
a sine wave, using a flip chart and diagrams. On record
that love is a pain in the heart. Though in desperate need
of funding, and far from a conclusion, the early results
are highly promising.
Tim
Chipping
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May 2004 www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net
Back
in the early 80s, electronic music it was quite the purest
form of pop, with The Human League, Depeche Mode and, later
on The Pet Shop Boys painting pristine pictures of a silicon
future. Ocford trio Trademark, though varley out of their
teens, are part of a growing movement of bands inspired by
that time, stripping back the layers of confusion and cross-pollination
that have built up around electronic music over the decades.
"Want
More" is Trademark's debut and they start awkwardly,
their transistors obviously not warmed up yet, with the Pet
Shop Biys rip-off "My Life In Stereo". but Sine
Love finds man and machine in closer harmony, a sci-fi lullaby
riding on the hum and chatter of gentle machinary, sharing
a solemn, poetic mood if not musical style with those other
Truck favourites, Tompaulin.
Trademark
are at their most effiecient (hey they are androids after
all, or at least they want us to think as much), when they
let the old-school synth sounds bubble up around the I. Am.
A. Robot vocals, like on "Square Wave Anger", injecting
a rare moment of rage into proceedings, sounding a lot like
forgotten synth hero Fad Gadget. Of course, they stretch all
this technobabble too far across the album, with metaphorical
cliches like "I directly interface with your heart",
when what they really mean is, "I want to give you a
good seeing to, Mrs Lady Robot". But then, so much of
the very best synth-pop was equally stilted and pretentious.
Check out the first two Human League albums) a huge infulence
by the sounds of it) to see just how much you can get away
with when you cast off the "keep it real" restraining
belt of rock and roll.
Furthur
into the album there are unbashed steals from Depeche Mode
(notably "Personal Jesus" on "All Too Late").
OMD (particually vocally) and Silicon Teens (oh go on, search
them our people, you will love us and thank us forever when
you hear them). They save the best till last, though: "Triangle
Indifference" with it's vocoder vocals and blink-and-you'll-miss-them
snatches of John Foxx's "20th Century" and Human
League's "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of".
Perhaps
too soft-focus and lightweight to stand up against the modern
synth-pop champions likes of Ladytron or Nemo, Trademark,
though, are a timely reminder that the future seamed more
appealing when we thought it was going to be all bacofoil
miniskirts and antiseptic glass domes. Bleep and, in a very
real sense, bloop.
David
Kattack
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Interviews |
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Radio
Interview: In 2004 Stu was interviewed on XFM
to accompany the Trademark live session recorded for
the station. You can also listen to Stu being interviewed
by John Kennedy live - here |
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