Wild Animals LP

Album Details

Wild Animals is the highly anticipated new album from critically acclaimed Trampled by Turtles, produced by the lead singer-songwriter of Low, Alan Sparhawk, and recorded in the legendary Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN (Nirvana, Andrew Bird, The Jayhawks). Of the new music Dave Simonett (guitar, vocals) notes, “We all tried to come into this thing extremely open-minded. How can we sound new to ourselves? I feel like the sound has changed and is changing, especially from Palomino to now. A lot of our reputation from even just a couple years ago was that we were this fast band, which we can do, and we do that. But this record focused a little bit more on other aspects of our playing together.” Sparhawk adds of working with the band, “The sound that caught my ear was there from the beginning and stands to this day: I call it the ‘wall of strings.’ Taking instruments we have heard for generations, the Turtles dive in with post-punk energy and selflessness. Everyone has a part in the arrangement that leans on and enhances the others, always serving the song. The message is not about individuals - it’s about what can be done when people get together, apply their heart and soul, and make a little room for each other. Music has always had that potential, but it’s rare when it actually happens.” Wild Animals follows 2012’s Stars and Satellites which garnered widespread praise and debuted Top 30 on the Billboard chart. Formed in Duluth, MN in 2003, Trampled by Turtles is Simonett, Tim Saxhaug (bass, vocals), Dave Carroll (banjo, vocals), Erik Berry and Ryan Young (fiddle). Within the contained music scene of Duluth, the members of the band did their own time in punk and rock bands brandishing their electricity proudly before switching to acoustic instruments. While they never set out to be a bluegrass band, Trampled by Turtles employs many of the same traditional techniques of the genre, but their differences in influences and attack make for their unique sound. After spending years refining their live show and building fans via word of mouth, they released their debut Palomino to little fanfare out of the gates. The story quickly built and eventually the record spent over a year straight on the Billboard Heatseakers Chart.