Battles - TRAS (LIVE 03/27/07 Birmingham, AL)

[BenlikesPoo]

best crowd ive seen in a battles video

[kcgutier]

Yeah, the song is in 9/8

[cloneofbogart]

k im not sure if someone already answered this.. but what time signature is this song in? it sounds like 9/8 to me, but im not the best at counting stuff like this.

[99kashus]

awesome song!! and you allll need to shhhhhhhhhut the fuck up

[saksilangit]

their driven by the AC

[thejoekster]

does john stanier use double bass?

[ibepresodent]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Stanier finds double bass pedals contrived and doesn't use them.

[cutthatcity111]

that is a sign of being a man. Double kicks are for either metal bands or pussies!

[twotwentydaytime]

aw come on, at the right time they can be pretty effective. take aaron harris from ISIS for example. rarely uses the double kick but when he does, its in a spot that will be the most effective. and it kicks ass.

[Cammangoman]

Damon Che of Don Cab uses a double bass pedal.

[Colenelly]

@Cammangoman hahaha, good point.

[patjonhughes]

@cutthatcity111 or fantastic jazz drummers

[kwakedesigns]

that sounds like the kind of gentleman brute that played the drums for Helmet.

Genius drummer.

[TurquoiseAvenger]

No, he doesn't

[theblurter]

sweet vid!

[Frupp]

The Band would so good without that bastard on the left.

[Wallyjrii]

Are you insane? Without Ian Williams?

[koreasilver]

ROFL Ian Williams is the main reason Battles was hyped up when they first started off, man. He's one of the fathers of math rock, for god's sake.

[mike93bd]

absolutally shit!!!

my mother makes better music when she farts.

sweet, stinky music....

[gondasap]

that is this song! ha. its the end riff. they start it at about 2:10 . its called TRAS, like it says in the title. its a single that was released between their first two demos.

[gondasap]

this older stuff is so much better than mirrored

[rivers221]

i hated mirrored when it came out too, (the synthy voice box stuff pissed me off) but it eventually grew on me and I sometimes listen to the whole cd numerous times. It does flow in a way

[arugula121]

no way

[davovincent2]

i completely agree

[Dsyplz]

Agreed, I don't like the vocals in mirrored,

[audiorage092]

i love this song...9/8 time never sounded so badass.

[charliej01]

fantastic and far out

[TraztheStampede]

so is tras the song or the band?

[melmes]

the band is battles, the song is tras, check out their album mirrored

[lblitzer]

This song was so awesome live, the sound of the video almost does the justice of how powerful it is.

The reason the cymbal is so high is because the drummer thought it would be funny to do live shows like that.

[melmes]

and yet he does it amazingly

[420allday69]

no the reason that the cymbal is so Hi is because he broke his arm and it's easier for him to hit it this way.

[Ibanezium]

You're all wrong..

The drummer thinks modern music has too many cymbals. But when the cymbal is that high, he'll only use it, when it's really nescecarry..

[gondasap]

it's blatantly just a gimmick. cool though.

and awesome song

[ibepresodent]

watch?v=oIepJjksoT8

He just thought it would be funny.

[stephenouve]

why is that guys cymbal so high!!?

[stickysausage]

I like it, now argue against that...

[99kashus]

it's just kick ass shit. you all make it sound so gay with your popcorn microwave comparisons.

[timewoundsallheels]

A perfect demonstration of music for technology's sake. Some real trash vibes, sort of like microwave music popcorn, without the butter.

[whalewhalewhale]

its hardly based in technology. in truth, its centred around the drums. there's not much processing in this track at all. and if there is, its just to assist the melody. tras isn't borne from the technology used to make it.

[JamieBarnes11]

so really its music for rhythym's sake, but thats why i like them

[melmes]

any additional tracks in their live shows are recorded and sampled during the show, nothing is prerecorded, takes a lot of talent, dont attempt to trash these musicians, they already have the respect they deserve

[musov]

if you like this math rock type stuff watch

Drive Like Jehu "Golden Brown/Bullet Train to Vegas" on youtube

or Hot Snakes "Braintrust"

[OohEehOohAhAh]

Well, I went to this very gig and I have to say I was just bored: so bored I went and sat down and waited for my mates, and I've never been bored at a gig before. This vid definitely shows the most exciting it got. Technically superb, credit where credits due, but I felt nothing at all - no real content to the music. I want my tenner back!

[MmirrorismM]

It's sad that they are being classified as math rock by people that have to slap a genre on everything out there. They hate math rock. In many interviews they said they want nothing to do with the genre. They are something new.

[hugz3]

i agree with you this is way beyond math rock...but i don´t think they hate it..ian is a former don caballero and david is a former lynx ....

[DefSixer]

It simply doesn't get any better than this. Twice as loud and twice as fast as on CD. Awesome.

[satanicsquirrel01]

with me, i dont have a favourite band on its own - i have to derive it down to the genre. battles are, without doubt, the best math rock band in the world. slint and 65daysofstatic after that. maybe.

[FunkyMonk00]

I'll be at the Baton Rouge show as well. Can't wait.

[henryfool34]

nice1

[Karmapa1111]

they're a punk rock kraftwerk!

[kcgutier]

I am going to see Battles again this month (June) in Baton Rouse, LA. Hopefully I'll have some more videos to post up. I'll try and get some of the new songs on camera.

[K3QCR]

they're so cool, but does anyone else think john steiner is a bit of a weird drummer? I mean his cymbals are reeeally high (not that thats uncool I put mine up as high as his hehe), he is really good but has a weird set up

[farsighted27]

You should look up Christian Lindberg.

[kcgutier]

I think I heard something about him putting his crash so high because he only wants to use it sparingly. Since it is so high, he has to consciously reach for the crash.

[Jd4eva626]

@kcgutier but how come in his other bands he uses a basic set up? i think he just does it for show to add to the whole artsy thing that they have going on.. i thing this band is groovy as hell

[YoPappee]

He's the fucking king, dude. He could play the cymbal on his head for all I care.

[K3QCR]

hehe

[MmirrorismM]

The reason John Stanier's crash is like 4 feet higher than it should is because when Battles first started, he broke his rotator in his right arm. So instead of reaching out to hit the crash, he reached up to hit it. It was like, easier for him.

[hugz3]

that was a joke in an interview for the london paper

[chriswrigley]

wait why do they suck i want to know your reasoning

[snkngshpsss]

That was such a good show.

[W4d5Y]

These guys fucking suck.

[monkeymissile]

they don't care what you think, that's why their music rocks

[voltakid]

your a moron.. if good, creative music is too much to handle then screw off. nobody needs useless comments.

[Sagacious1]

It's devastating that I missed this. I love these guys so much

[ganipganop]

davey k with the rifff...fuck that's hot

[tourdeforcer]

this band is such a good time to see live.