Wheeler dealers

“We’re a right bunch of little rock ’n’ roll sluts, we are”, declares Trucks guitarist Mark Remmington (setting the tone for our interview before I’ve even switched the dictaphone on).

Somehow, I have no hesitation in believing him.

Bulldozing their way through the charts by way of their bawdily titled debut single, ‘It’s Just Porn, Mum’, Trucks are proudly stepping forth to carry the baton for cheese-o-rama pop rock ditties: anthems for undersexed, over-wanked, mid-pubescent teenage rebels with a penchant for easy listening melodies and lyrics that’d make your Granny wince.

Whilst a fair distance from high art, this quartet of likely lads (consisting of two Norwegians and a duo of Essex ‘geezers’) sound like the bastard offspring of a test tube experiment between the XY chromosomes of Wheatus, Blink 182 and Green Day (the ‘X’ gladly donated by ex-Pist.on bassist, Valium).

The result is, rather obviously, a band that ranks enthusiasm, attitude and the “1-2-3-4 WAAAAGH” mentality above the high brow snobbery cooler than thou Strokian trendiness.

Recorded in Norway, Trucks’ album Juice hit the shelves at the end of September. Featuring tracks such as ‘You’re Easy’ and ‘Psycho Ex-Girlfriend’, one can rest assured that the juvenile delinquancies of ‘It’s Just Porn…’ are not an isolated case.

“We had demo versions of all the songs, so when it came to doing the album, we did it really fast. In about six weeks, or something,” explains Mark. “But it was great because at that point we’d formed a band personality and a band sound, so it was just a matter of capturing that spirit on record. Instead of sitting down trying to get everything spot on, our producer pushed the point that we shouldn’t worry about playing perfectly, just play with fucking attitude!”

This “attitude” has landed the band in several compromising situations, including a particularly eventful industry showcase gig in Germany.

“We didn’t play a proper venue, we played a strip club called the Titty Twister” giggles Mark. “It was a model of the one from Dusk Till Dawn. So, instead of having a support band, we had a support stripper. We were a bit worried about being upstaged by her, but I’ve got bigger tits than she did so it was alright. We were sharing the same dressing room, and she came backstage completely naked with just a cowboy hat on and said ‘Don’t be nervous boys’. Steve replied, ‘That’s not the first time a naked woman has said that to me!’ That was pretty funny. But even though it was just a business showcase gig, we got an encore. The crowd really got into it.”

So I take it you don’t have any problems winning over an audience then?

“Nah”, they chorus. “Our juice is contagious. But it’s alright. We’ve been down the clinic. It’s sorted out now.”