Battle Scars

Provogue, 2015

Tempted to write a post-op album of “smell-the-roses bullshit”, Trout ultimately came up with something far darker, imagining himself back in the Nebraska Medical Center circa April 2014, and capturing the maddening terror of waiting for a donor organ. Try Almost Gone: a gale-force Zeppelin-style rocker about “the depths of hopelessness” when it seemed the call would never come. Or Omaha: a glowering rocker about Trout’s attempts to walk the hospital hall on wasted legs, preceded by ambulance sirens and the frantic shouts of medics. It’s harrowing stuff, but you’d choose this over hearts and flowers any day of the week.