Royal Trux

Royal Trux
Royal Trux, 1999.
Background information
Years active	1989 – 2001

Royal Trux was an American rock band, founded by Neil Hagerty (vocals, guitar) and Jennifer Herrema (vocals). From 1989 to 2001, the band explored every inch of the rock-and-roll cliché from sub-underground nihilism to major-label biz for hire, without abandoning their unique romanticism and artistic integrity.

History

While still a teenager, Hagerty joined Washington DC's avant garde noise experimentalists Pussy Galore, led by Jon Spencer, and subsequently relocated to New York. During his time in Pussy Galore, Hagerty convinced his bandmates to release a cassette-only remake of the entire Rolling Stones album Exile on Main Street. While he gained a certain amount of underground notoriety for his work with Pussy Galore, Hagerty reportedly viewed it as a job and intended to pursue his own artistic vision with his girlfriend, Jennifer Herrema, under the name Royal Trux.

Hagerty and Herrema released their first (self-titled) Royal Trux album in 1989. The idiosyncratic album offered skeletal projections of songs that betrayed a singular logic groomed on bizarre and previously unconnected realms of the rock canon.

After moving to San Francisco, Royal Trux released the highly experimental double-album Twin Infinitives. This album remains an extreme work on the periphery of rock music, worthy of being compared to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music and Suicide's debut album. Though most casual listeners will find it utterly unlistenable, many musicians from the scene hold it in high regard.

After Twin Infinitives, Royal Trux released an untitled album (sometimes referred to as the "Skulls" record because of the sleeve artwork.) Forgoing the wild experimentalism of "Twin Infinitives," the band revealed previously-unheard musicianship and songwriting skills in their lo-fi, untitled album, which they recorded on an 8-track. The quirky lyricism and odd anti-melodies of the first LP had passed through the mirror of "Twin Infinitives" and emerged as genuine heartfelt poetry.

Following the release of their untitled album, Hagerty and Herrema hired a guitarist and drummer in order to complete their fourth full-length effort, Cats and Dogs. The songwriting remained highly original and unpredictable, but was much more melodic, which was revealed on such standout tracks as "The Flag," "The Spectre" and "Turn of the Century."

In the corporate sweep of the underground scene that followed Nirvana, Royal Trux signed a lucrative three-record contract totaling over one million dollars with the major label Virgin. In 1995, they released "Thank You," a straightforward, seventies-influenced rocker that they recorded almost completely live in the studio with legendary producer David Briggs. Next came "Sweet Sixteen," a much more adventurous, densely-produced album. While the band received mainstream media exposure during their time on Virgin (Herrema even appeared in several Calvin Klein print and TV ad's from 1995-2000), Virgin was reportedly unhappy with "Sweet Sixteen," The band; not willing to hand a 3rd record over to the label made it most appealing to Virgin to pay for the third LP. and let the band take it back to their own label Drag City.

Back on the label that they had helped to start, Drag City, the band released "Accelerator," a relentlessly catchy hook-driven monster that yielded bizarre tones and frequencies through layer upon layer of compression in the recording and lyrics. They quickly followed this album with "Veterans of Disorder," their most sonically varied LP. "Pound for Pound" showcased Hagerty's technical mastery of the guitar and Herrema's distinctive vocal approach.

Royal Trux also released the triple LP "Singles, Live, Unreleased," which aptly summed up the astonishing variance of styles and consistency of quality that Royal Trux had crafted over the preceding decade or so, as well as a pair of EPs and substantial video and webwork.

Hagerty and Herrema were often credited as Adam and Eve for their production work. They separated as a couple and dissolved the band following the release of "Pound for Pound" in 2000. Since then, both have recorded albums for Drag City - Hagerty under his own name and as The Howling Hex, and Herrema under the name RTX.

Discography

Discography

• Royal Trux (First Album) (1989)
• Twin Infinitives (1990)
• (untitled) (Third Album) (1992)
• Cats & Dogs (1993)
• Thank You (1995)
• Sweet Sixteen (1997)
• Singles, Live, Unreleased (1997)
• Three Song EP. (1998)
• Accelerator (1998)
• Veterans of Disorder (1999)
• Radio Video EP. (2000)
• Pound for Pound (2000)
• Hand of Glory (2002)

Related Artists

Pussy Galore
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
RTX
The Howling Hex
Jon Theodore
David Pajo
Artimus Pyle
Alex Minoff
Weird War
Mike Fellows
David Berman
Silver Jews
Chris Bald

External links

• Western Xterminator review
• RTX Archive
• rtxusa.com : Royal Trux and RTX fan site with interviews, pics, and forum.
• Beating Hearts : Yahoo discussion group
• The Wire's100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)
• Jennifer Herrema, Happy Shopper, outsideleft.com
• Jennifer Herrema interview by Travis Jeppesen