Track By Tracks: T-Rex Marathon - Days Without Incident (2020)

1. All For Nothing:

The song was written explicitly to be the album opener. It’s driving and still has a catchy hook but relies heavily one on repeating melody to get people off their feet and moving in an aggressive fashion. It’s driving, fun, and simple and gives a listener an idea of the kind of fun ride they’re about to go on. It also asks a very simple question that could apply to the rest of the band, “what if it’s all for nothing?”. That question is answered by the end of the album and it most certainly was not.

2. No Words:

Surprisingly, the song in fact has words. The song is an exploration of really trying to blend the heaviest we could get along with how melodic we could be. It’s also a demonstration of a wide dynamic range that conveys a wide array of emotions. The lyrics dive into an interesting concept (a paid mourner for funerals of people who may not have enough people in their lives to cry for them) and all come together into one of the most interesting tracks on the album.

3. Faux News:

Let’s get political. The title is a pun on “Fox News” and fake news (as if it wasn’t obvious). It’s us holding a mirror to our neighbours to the south and diagnosing some of the more obvious issues with them and by extension the rest of the western world. Making use of a stadium punk style sound (a la Billy Talent), the band explores ideas of consumerism, kabuki theatre democracy, individual responsibility, and what it means to exist in the world we do. The song is catchy, simple, and easy to shout along with and is the kind of song that would galvanize young budding activists to dive deeper into the ideas we convey.

4. A Prison Just for Us:

We are all massive Alexisonfire fans and this song is where that comes through the most. The structure and feel pay homage to AoF’s track “Accidents” and if it were to be described in one word, it would be an atmosphere. It’s the kind of song that with each listen, you’ll find something new but it’s still kept catchy with a great chorus that’s easy to sing along to. It’s a song where we make use of interesting production techniques and slightly improvisational guitar parts as well as giving it a lot of breathing room live to stretch out and interact with the crowd. 

The lyrics center around the confining nature of abusive relationships. The speaker laments how their partner has stripped them of their autonomy and turned them into a cartoonish fantasy, instead of a legitimate relationship. It’s a protest song for a failed relationship.

5. Turnpike:

This is the oldest track on the album! It was written at a time when the band was still very much a basement punk act and was for a while some of the members' favourite song. It’s one of the more straightforward punk tunes that play with the tempo at times and is the kind of song you can get lost in easily. It’s one of the more exciting songs live that always gets the crowd going and puts us at home in punk and metal sets alike.

6. Misfits:

This is our pop-punk opus. It deals with heavier themes but contrasts that with light and poppy melodies. The song is a way for us to empathize with those who don’t really fit in and give them something just for them. Inspired heavily by the likes of Taking Back Sunday, it’s a fun song that perfectly exemplifies our pop-punk roots and changes up the pace of the album a little bit while still keeping up with the central core of the album. 

7. Pick Your Poison:

This song holds a special place in the heart of the band. The song itself is a nice three-chord song that goes through how tough it is to quit cigarettes, but what makes it interesting is it was written by the band's previous guitarist, Liam England. Liam also features vocally and the whole thing is a very emotional song for the band as it keeps us in touch with our roots.

8. Sheltered:

Interesting melodies, driving rhythms, poetic lyrics, catchy chorus, with a little bit of fun sprinkled throughout. If there was one song that would be the quintessential T-Rex Marathon piece, here it is. Musically, the song is not complex, and yet it does exactly what it needs to do at any given point. It’s a perfect example of restraint and tastefulness and the whole band working in service of a larger musical idea. It’s beautiful, it’s charming, and it’s heavy when it needs to be.

9. Futures and Goodbyes:

This is the song that proves we know how to play music. It’s the only song on the album that could remotely be considered progressive rock/metal (but it really isn’t). The song deviates away from conventional song structure in favour of a more fluid and natural progression. Riffs seldom repeat themselves and instead ebbs and flow to go with the lyrical content. There are time signature, key, and tempo changes that fluidly go into each other. Starting with a Pink Floyd inspired section, it transitions seamlessly from there to a Coheed and Cambria inspired section to finish up on a dirty blues section. It’s a demonstration of guitar abilities and also does not feature Jeremy on bass. Instead, Aaron occupies that role.

10. 5 Centimeters per Second:

Closing off the album, this song is one last huzzah. Starting with samples of water and beautifully simple acoustic guitar, the song is a melancholy look back at things that have ended but also what happens. Fitting that the last line of the album is “my universe will never be the same” as that’s what this album has done for us. The song shares an identical structure to The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” and is a welcome softer (mostly) acoustic song. It’s the closest thing that would be a classic rock song and features one of the two solos on the album. It’s simple, beautiful, and hopefully someone ill cry.