The Trust Fund Kids: "Amen Pt. 1"
It’s hard to imagine the song “Amen Pt. 1” by The Trust Fund Kids as being emblematic of some radical artistic departure. At first. The two most common chords in popular music are strummed on an acoustic guitar. This is, admittedly, a much more organic texture than any made up the New Jersey indie rock outfit’s debut LP, this time next year. only six months prior. Nonetheless, it does not jar until, slowly, its web of wordplay and imagery of fallen kingdoms and false prophets circle about, stumbling over itself.
The Trust Fund Kids’ sole member, 20 year old Kevin Connor begins the proceedings with the lofty “and this I believe to be true” like a preacher beginning to make a fiery sermon or a lawyer delivering a passionate testimony. And as he begins to unravel a list of existential woes as a folk singer, it’s hard to imagine this is the same voice that sang brief, post-punk tinged, mammoth pop rock songs only months prior.
The euphoric pop madness of it’s chorus reminds one that this is the same pop songwriter but he has grown considerably. And the song continues it’s delicate balance of cutting wordplay, fuzzy warm guitars plucked straight from the catalog of Neutral Milk Hotel and ornate, George Martin-esque production until it reaches a fever pitch. Or as Fistful of Vinyl put it “a chaotic stumbling along a line, reaching its destination a bit circuitously but entertainingly just the same.” It explodes and slithers away, trailing off towards the immense journey that lies ahead. The immense journey that is the 90 minute rollercoaster and second album SO BE IT.
Despite it’s grand, folk rock palette, dense production and pop sensibilities, Amen Pt. 1 is, in essence, a prelude. Even it’s “Pt. 1” signifies an incompletion, an ending that lingers on the other side of the project’s most novelistic album yet. But, in many ways, it was simply designed by Connor as a feverish attempt at writing “the perfect pop song”. And its roots lie at the very beginning of his musical world.
The Trust Fund Kids began in early September 2015 on a couch in Suburban New Jersey. The project’s designation was for Connor to write songs in his junior year of high school. He wrote the songs that’d make up his debut and one idea - a verse and chorus that’d become Amen Pt. 1. Three years later, in early spring of 2018, after finishing a string of solo shows, Connor returned to the same suburban coach to realize this album. He didn’t come home for that reason however. He was suffering from a bout of spontaneous panic attacks. So, Connor decided to take a break from college, looking for levity in the long journey ahead by working on the music which he loved.
For the first album, he had already decided to do something that felt uncomfortable - engineer and self-produce this album without any serious experience. By using the free mixing he won as The Deli Philly’s Artist of the Month, any mistakes could be salvaged, he figured. The experiment turned out successful, yielding singles “Waiting On You” and “Mercy Me” which began to receive indie and college radioplay. As Little Dose of Indie wrote in a review for the eventual album, “released across the past year, singles ‘Waiting On You’, ‘Adderall’, ‘Evelyn’, ‘Loving You (Is Such A Waste Of Time)’ and ‘Let’s Assume The Worst Forever’ relish in stadium-filling choruses and pit-inciting riffs – the fearless spirit of Connor is relentless.” But these songs had existed for a long time. And so did SO BE IT.
After recording the debut, Connor was extremely pleased and began to see a new side of The Trust Fund Kids that involved exploring the capabilities of the studio and his capabilities as a producer. He decided to record the follow-up mere weeks after. But Connor, desperate to communicate the difficult experiences of mental illness he was coping with, had only song titles and a third of the lyrics to the music. So, he dedicated the next weeks to writing the lyrics, part brand new verses and scribbled down lines culled from years over years. Connor began to unspool a tangled tape and therapeutically uncover, well, himself.
Amen Pt. 1 begins his most personal album, this sophomore effort even the first album he fully mixed. It exists as a musical transition from the two albums and a statement in it’s own right. It has the pop hallmarks of its predecessor but the wordy, folk ambition and fuzzy abandon of it’s follow-up. The opening scene sets the tone for the entire movie. And this is a hell of opening scene. Connor would eventually release SO BE IT. only six months later, as he continues to work through his panic attacks. He is doing a lot better and expects to be regularly doing shows fairly soon. But until then, so be it.
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