Trauma Ray - Carnival - VINYL LP

Carnival, the new EP from Trauma Ray, finds the Fort Worth band capturing some of their strongest, most intense, and exploratory work within the boundaries of a whirlwind year. The breakout success of Chameleon, their 2024 debut on Dais Records, further established Trauma Ray amidst the current wave of shoegaze revivalists, yet increasingly agile, able to weave between scenes, touring throughout 2025 with the likes of Deafheaven, Loathe, and Touche´ Amore´. A confluence of blitzing riffs and stark beauty, their sound continues to evolve, nodding to loud-quiet-loud greats across metal, grunge, and shoegaze from Slowdive to Smashing Pumpkins. Carnival delves into moodier, more cerebral material, like holding their past excursions against a funhouse mirror. There's a distinct sense of unease in these songs, built as a band in a fleeting window of time, proving they work best under pressure and when pulling from the darkest corners of their subconscious. InchWhen Chameleon came out, we just never stopped touring. We're driving ourselves, so it's not like we have some situation where we can sit in a van and write,Inch explains Jonathan Perez, who moved to San Diego after returning from recent Deafheaven dates, adding to the challenge of getting the band all in one room. They used a break in the summer 2025 schedule to regroup in Texas for a few days, recording a flurry of tracks, then sent them to Corey Coffman for mixing and mastering. InchAt first I thought this was gonna be really bad and rushed, and now I feel like it might be my favorite thing we've ever done,Inch Perez says. InchIt's the most collaborative we've been, where everyone was both hands-on and hands-off,Inch adds Uriel Avila. InchYou can really hear each person's influences in almost every song in a very unique, non-biting way.Inch Avila and Perez, the band's core songwriting duo to date, welcomed more con