"If this band continue to nurture the seeds sown on this debut, we might be in for a very impressive (albeit depressing) harvest." That's what I said of The Trauma back in November 2003. And I don't mean to brag, but I think I was right.

All Change:

The Trauma have seen something of an overhaul since "Twisting Into The Void" first spun its way into the public consciousness. Tom Lennox-Brown, drummer, and Josie Hayes, violinist and vocalist, have shuffled off the traumatic coil and now the line up features Tim Hole (a very recent addition) on drums, and Nelle Ferguson on vocals.

The result is extraordinary. While the new CD, "Tear off That Mask and Kiss Me" features three of the tracks that could be found on "Twisting Into The Void", the sound as a whole is much tighter and focussed. We may have lost the Gaelic strings of Hayes' violin, but Ferguson's far more powerful voice certainly makes up for it.

All Grown Up:

The band have grown up in a very short space of time. The impassioned teenage angst has been subdued somewhat, even if the underlying anger remains.

The lyrics remain challenging and remarkable. While many of my reviews may complain about the lack of imagination in some bands' lyrical output, this is not a charge that can be laid against The Trauma.

Poetry and Motion:

They like their poetry. They like their poetry so much that Paul Horn (bassist and lyricist) has recently won a second prize in a national poetry competition for writing a sonnet, "Love Poem, No. 2". The competition was judged by Andrew Motion, so it must have been good.

So it is no surprise that the lyrics should be so strong. It is unlikely that a band like The Holloh, Irritant or Apache Rose would come up with "I stood and watched as an ice age thawed" as an opening line for a song, never mind an E.P.

A League of Their Own:

What is perhaps most remarkable about this band is that, for all their misery and depression, they sound nothing like the plethora of other miserable, depressed bands around at the moment.

While many other bands will make half hearted efforts to say "We're not understood", followed by a gut wrenching series of wails, howls and screeching guitar noises, The Trauma understand that there is an art to not being understood. It may involve dressing in black and looking miserable, but it also involves coherence and cogency.

When you hear a lyric like "Tears shatter my reflection, twisting and changing again/solitude staring back at me, splintered outside and within" ("Far Away") you realise that there is something special going on here.

A Stairway to Mama and Papa Roach's:

Musically, The Trauma have moved on in leaps and bounds. The opening track, "Edge" begins with a riff borrowed from "Stairway to Heaven". Hardly surprising. Ben George (guitarist) is a Led Zep. fan. From there on, the music gels together in a way it never did before.

The Papa Roach riff remains on "Far Away", but a Mamas and Papas style guitar solo has now mysterious appeared over the top of it. This can only be a good thing.

The seeds have been sown, the harvest is being reaped. Listen to The Trauma and (don't) enjoy!

09/06/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire