Two Stars
★★☆☆☆
Despite the security suggested by their name, Trust Fund’s entry onto the stage was disturbing. In the midst of the lead singer‘s oscillating vocal range, the drummers gurns were fear inspiring.
It was not, however, just the audience’s eyes that were affronted. The lyrics cringed our ears until they bled. One of the songs featuring earlier in the set, ‘Scared’, is made purely of the two words ‘I’m’ and ‘scared’ shrieked over and over again. Their bands unified voices clashed and it was simply uncomfortable listening. Another deliciously bad titbit was the line ‘After our exams… If it still feels weird we can just break up’. Like the two characters of that relationship, I found myself at this questioning- what is the point in all of this? Their lyrics sounded like the angsty pages of teenage diary, but with all the juicy gossip left out.
I will admit I was quick to judge Trust Fund. Once the initial cringing was overcome, the guitar riffs weren’t bad. As a whole, Trust Fund sound like a collaborative effort. Johnny Foreigner has written their music, Slow Club have written the lyrics, which have in turn been sung by the lead singer from Bombay Bicycle Club. A musical lovechild birthed by NME favourites. They sounded their best when they employed their voices in harmony, as the evidenced in the almost-delightful performance of ‘No Pressure’. Onstage, the band were seething with enthusiasm. Sure, they sound like a pastiche of Slow Club, but that band have done okay for themselves. Trust Fund just need to channel that enthusiasm away from the discordant shrieks and towards a better collection of lyrics.
