 The Flying Cock, Brisbane. Vocals burst from Tyler Shilling. He sings with passionate intensity, the grain of his voice straddling an impossible high. Behind him, the band fall into place. They’re alive. It’s something else. Two years ago, Trails were a group still pulling themselves together, figuring it all out. Guitarist Daniel Booth and Shilling convened a few extra hands to put across their studio productions live. They saw that the project had promise. It kept going. They recorded some more, solidified the line-up and played a few more shows. Tonight, they’re launching new single ‘Phasing out’. But this performance feels like more than that. They’ve hit their stride. As the set’s opener bursts to a close the five fall back into a hard groove. Bliss points come plentiful. Shilling is singular talent. The grain in his voice! How can something like this sit in a human shell? It’s hard to reduce to words, but those fortunate enough to have witnessed Sigur Rós’ Jónsi Birgisson live would tell of a similar feeling. The band’s recordings, accomplished as they may be, are yet to truly do him justice. Pushing this voice to the silken heights, he’s simultaneously grabbing sideways for a drum kit or synthesiser. He would be playing every instrument in this group if possible. In a technical sense, he probably could. But the true pull of a band is the rub of its personalities. Booth, Pelecanos, Mead and Cusack meld with Shilling to generate a sound more than the sum of its parts. A tired cliché but true. They know their chops. This music is at times dense and Trails don’t shy from complexity. But they stop short of showy. It’s the emotion that sells it. These sonics can bash you over the head but just as easily pull at the heart. Trails vet some new material. Not least is ‘Phasing’. It’s an airier cut, lightening some of the brooding intensity of the earlier set. It’s got kick. The sort of jumpy jangle which feels ready for a festival set. While their following may still be modest, this outfit is begging for a bigger stage. Next, they crash through a thrashier jam. There’s nothing better than witnessing a band hitting their mark and knowing it. It feels like a revelation. Trails future is one laden with possibly. Leaps and bounds. And if it continues? God help us. 
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