With a quick rise and fall marked by a pair of Geffen-released albums, Alabama’sTRUSTcompany quickly dropped off the mainstream radar, announcing a hiatus in the Fall of ’05. Six years later, the band is back with their first album for eOne Music. If you dug TRUSTcompany during their fast burn in the early 2000’s, you may love their new album, DREAMING IN BLACK AND WHITE. It’s exactly what I would’ve expected their third album to sound like, circa 2006.
Like many of their radio-rock peers, TRUSTcompany seems to be sticking with a dated formula of releasing an album that’s half killer, half filler. The easy choices for singles are stacked at the front of the record, with the back half packed with forgettable songs that could’ve been mix-and-matched with those of countless other bands. “Heart in My Hands,” and “Reverse and Remember,” should be around for a bit, while “Stumbling” is the kind of ballad that could easily lead to the creation of future cast members for MTV’s 16 and Pregnant. The rest is really average fare.
In a lot of ways, the return of TRUSTcompany is a lot like when someone wakes up from a coma. They haven’t changed, but the world around them has moved on. Unfortunately, someone has to tell them what’s up.
Rating: 3/5
