Trauma Ray - Carnival (2026)

In 2024, my brother pointed me to an album by shoegaze revival band Trauma Ray. Shortly after his suggestion, guitarist Jonathan Perez was on Jeremy Bohm’s First Ever Podcast and I knew I had to move Chameleon to the top of my pile. From the first track, I knew this band was special. This is a neo-gaze band with actual teeth, reminiscent of the crunchier parts of Smashing Pumpkins. I was eager to see where they would go next. Carnival dropped at the end of February and immediately entered into heavy rotation.
The album opens with “Hannibal", a song that draws you in with an Alice In Chains sounding guitar tone. A home cooked meal for the ears, a warm sonic blanket. Then lead singer Uriel Avila’s voice comes sliding across the distortion. This is not a band in the mood to make a museum piece. By the time the album winds its way to Funhouse, their is a sorrowful menace to the songs. Something like the darkness that elevated Pornography-era Cure into legend. There are hints of Type O negative and other goth rock legends as the songs build, but this is a distinctly unique creation. It feels like this is a band on the edge of becoming something and I only hope I get to see them while they still play small rooms.