“Mad Men”: El Trevino shines with “Greatest Hits”

Woven as a patchwork quilt of different sounds and influences comes the latest offering from a band of Kansas natives idly dispersed throughout different cities and states. With their first full length album in almost a decade, the formally southwest Kansas based band El Trevino proves that while special things often crumble when given great space, there are in fact, bands that can pull off the “long distance” thing.

Whether you take the album’s title “Greatest Hits” with a certain tongue in cheek flippancy or as the intended nod between friends who refuse to take themselves too seriously, it quickly becomes evident that it’s an ample assessment that feels endearingly sincere. As stand alone musicians, the five well traveled members have earned their stripes in a plethora of come and go bands of varying genres. As a whole, their latest work is their finest, with all of those past years feeling like prep work for this special collaborative effort. “Greatest Hits” is amply named in the respects of musicianship, songwriting and well placed nuances. Throughout the album, simple things like a well positioned backing vocal or the band’s ability to weave seamlessly between meshing styles without feeling forced or muddled is most impressive. Others, it’s the biting lyrics and self reflection’s of frontman Derek Releford that hammer their way through your chest and keep you invested.

While the album begins with a game track in “Only Thing”, the soft sincerity of “Mad Man” truly sets the album’s tempo as the band segues between abrasively topical songs with a soft side like “Walk Away” or “In Blue” only to set you up for heavier swings in tracks like “Alberta” and “Predator” that momentarily resurrect the era when most of these players were cutting their teeth in heavier bands. A personal favorite is “Artie Lange”, a stellar track full of tell-tale imagery cleverly named after the often combustible comedian. The album is a poignant collection without a single miss constructed by a who’s who of Southwest Kansas talent that undoubtedly prove that you don’t have to live in the same city for the music to truly feel like home.

Be sure you check out El Trevino on Spotify, Apple Music and most major platforms or be sure to follow the attached links to their various social media sites.