TRYFLES PRESS

W.A.R.D. (Western Association of Rock Disk Jockeys) 12/9/85
PLASTICLAND - Flower Scene b/w In My Black & White
THE TRYFLES - Your Lies b/w When I See That Guy
"Plasticland's new single displays this Milwaukee four-piece in a more accessibly melodic mode than last year's Lolita/Enigma LP, though the lyrics are obviously still lysergically damaged. To quote, 'There's a bubble going on down there.' The Tryfles are a boy-girl New York City band who unleash on 'Your Lies' a wicked vintage 13th Floor Elevators guitar sound. The B-side raids the punk tradition with wild abandon, stirring high expectations for an upcoming LP." ...Tracy Santa

Boston Rock February 1986
TRYFLES - Your Lies b/w When I See That Guy
"Pretty rough stuff, with a whole lotta soul to start with. Lots of spacy guitar chomps and some whiskey'n'grit vocals, too...." ...Clea Simon

Bucketfull of Brains Issue 14, January 1986
TRYFLES - Your Lies b/w When I See That Guy
"Recorded in low-fi mono in keeping with the 60's orientation of the material. 'Your Lies' has a Chesterfield Kings feel, but with added charm in the guise of guitarists Lesya Karpilov (6 string) and John Fay (12 string) and an insistent grungy attraction. On the B side the Tryfles borrow heavily from the Kinks' 'All Day And All Of The Night' - but so have a hundred others before 'em. J.D. at Midnight tells me the forthcoming album is a killer - on the strength of this single that's well withing the bounds of possibility, I await the proof impatiently." ...Jon Storey

Forced Exposure # 9 - Winter '86
THE TRYFLES- Your Lies b/w When I See That Guy
"...hard for me to admit to liking any record with a name like the Tryfles attached to it, but despite the disturbing appellation, it's a quite appealing piece of garage spunk...." ...Byron Coley

Buzz (Albany, NY) - January, '86
THE TRYFLES - Your Lies b/w When I See That Guy
"The riffs, the colored lights and the mono mix all combine to make the Tryfles the most authentic and devoted revivalists of the sixties garage band sound. What keeps them from being simply derivative is their ability to elucidate subtle social points in the course of three minute pop songs. If these four men and women are as good over the course of an album as a single release, they could blow wide open. I think America is ready for the Tryfles sound - again." ...Ben Gordon

Blitz #56, January/February 1986
"Midnight Records easily reaffirms its status as the premier label for up and coming garage band talent with this exemplary offering. The Tryfles (John Fay-lead vocals/rhythm guitar; Lesya Karpilov-lead guitar; Peter Stuart-bass; Ellen O'Neil-drums) present a strong and impressive pair of Moving Sidewalks/Sonics inspired originals here, indicating their potential to be the label's most promising signing since landing the Vipers (only to lose them to PVC) some months ago." Ed. - Well, they're back home now!

The Bob #26, March/april 1986
"Fluid guitar lines ascend throughout "Your Lies." A soothing effect in nice contrast to the singers agitated state of mind. "When I See That Guy" is the rocker, unashamedly lifting the spirit of "All Day And All Of The Night" and Dave Davies frantic guitar solos (the ones that always seemed so short). Nothing wrong with that, especially when it sounds this good! Recorded in mono." ...Greg Beaudoin

Beef #18, Spring 1986
"Midnight Records started out on 23rd St. in New York City as a retail/wholesale store and mailorder outlet specializing in the more obscure veins of rockabilly, swamp rock, garage psychedelic and any combination of the above. The label formed in 1983 and released its first LP the same year (Rhythm Bound, by the Zantees). The label continues to release artists who are molding new sounds out of an era of mostly American music that has been bypassed by the record industry giants. The Tryfles single is a blast to play before going out at night. Rockin'? It's Garageadelic! It's got a bitchin' backbeat, neat licks, vocals that are harsh and eerie and a lot of wild energy. Loaded with strenuous guitars, side B is less freaky and more raw than "Your Lies." This band hasta be great live. Howl!" ...Stephen Pocock

The Morning Call Saturday, March 1, 1986
"The coed guartet's folkedelic garage-pop is rendered lifeless by poor sound. It's one thing to record in mono, another to turn down the volume on the guitars."....Rich Harry

Hartbeat (German Magazine) April 1986
"It's a shame that this band is no longer with us (at least not in this incarnation), as 2 of them joined the leaving Fuzztones (see there). At least, they have left us with sweet memories in form of black wax and great tunes. "Your Lies" is the Chesterfield Kings beaten at their own game. Genuine teenpunk with guts and gusto, a fine mealody on top of it and thus dedicated to hit status. Of course, we won't see this one on the charts, it's much too good to be everybody's property. It's a fualtless piece of music, determined and powerful. Additionally played with inspiration and a certain degree of instrumental proficiency therefore I'd like to recommend it to everybody with common sense ('The recommendation for people with brains' is a slogan that springs to mind immediately! Well, most of you won't understand this joke but the people it aims at will!) and a liking for thoroughbred teenpunk and garage rock music. It's just the thing you've been longing for. And you can join the Tryfles Fan Club now that it's too late: E. New, 23 West 89th Street, New York City 10024. Go! Go! Go!" .....Hans Jurgen Klitsch


CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT
JACKPOT, NOV. 9, 1986
Sure there are 10,000,000 60's - influenced bands - i.e. all them jangly-Byrd/R.E.M. clones running around. But in the past several years there's also been an underground of bands doin' their best to reproduce the 6T's trash-punk sensibilities as verbatimly as possible. Some of the best-New York's State's Chesterfield Kings and Vipers, Canada's Gruesomes, Sweden's Stomachmouths-carry on regardless of the critical snubbing they get for being more obvious than the aforementioned clones. The late TRYFLES are one such band. New York stalwarts who quietly went about their business satisfied to attract their cult and oblivious to the "real world" of present-day rock'n'roll. This, their debut and posthumous album takes a while to get off the ground-a whole side in fact-but when it does, it proves a point that's never even brought up in discussion of other corners of R&R(does anyone complain that George Thorogood "imitates" John Lee Hooker forinstance?): that gut-slugging ped-pounding music's cool wherever it draws its inspiration from. And TRYFLES does wail. Although 60's punk has its limited components--snarled vocals, fuzzy and 12-string-jingled guitars, lotsa harp'n Diddley-beat'n tambourine'n, bass riffs lifted off "All Day And All Of The Night"--the TRYFLES manage here to forge a identity of their own. Principles: John Faye, Lesya Karpilov and Peter Stuart(all of 'em on the usual gtrs-bs-keys in various permutations)each write and sing these tunes of lyin', lust and jealousy as if they've been getting stoned by Pebbles and Boulders since 66 and never heard of personal computers or Reeboks & Celia Farber just pounds away in the best Ringo Watts beat tradition while all this madness swirls and buzzes. Unlike many neo-garageites, the TRYFLES basically stick to originals but one cover is worth noting:"What A Way To Die," originally done circa 67 by a band called the Pleasure Seekers (featuring a young Suzi Quatro), is a gas. It's the tale of a toots who lays it on the line:"Don't ask me to choose between youand a bottle of beer." They don't write em like that anymore. Alas, the TRYFLES are already gone, but that shouldn't stop anyone from wigging out to this.--Jeff Tamarkin

MAXIMUM ROCK'N'ROLL DECEMBER 1986
Tryfles - TRYFLES
This neo-60's band touches on folk rock, blues-based punk and punk/psych -- some soft, some tough. Sounds like Chicago meets S.F. a la '67. Okay if you got your head on backwards, babeee!--TY
Ed. Tim, baby get yer head outta yer shoe!

GOLDMINE, JANUARY 2,1987
THE TRYFLES
This record is something of a potted obituary to the most promising garage band to appear in New York since the 70's. Its production history could almost make LET IT BE look simple. Only three of the four members were on hand for most of the sessions, the whole disc had to be remastered due to defective tape stock, and two of the four people who played on it have partly disowned the record. For all that, this is a superb album and one that any label could feel proud of issuing.

The album's most striking attribute is its either sheer musicality; these weren't a bunch of no talents wailing away at high volume or hiding behind an image and some organ nodling, but a musically adept quartet whose interests ranged from the New York Dolls to the Beach Boys.

Their songs contain occasional musical references to the Byrds, the Chocolate Watchband, and the Beach Boys, without ever sounding quite like any of them. The music is articulated beautifully throughout, in a manner reminiscent of the Byrds and the Lovin' Spoonful, played with a very sharp edge, like the original Byrds in concert - that is, loud and hard. It would have been even harder if only the guitas weren't underrecorded on several tracks.

Lead guitarist Lesya Karpilov acquits herself extremely well as an instrumentalist and singer, except on what used to be her featured concert number, "What a Way To Die," Her lead vocal, rerecorded six months after the rest of the album was finished, gives the song a light, jokey quality. The album's best song is "In The End," an original by bassist Peter Stuart which features a Vox Mando-guitar. Stuart's bass playing, generally in a kind of muscular/melodic Brian Wilson mode (sort of Wilson meets John Entwistle), also happens to be the most eloquent and inspired to appear on any '80s garage/psych release thus far.

This is the best record ever to come out of the New york psychedelic revival, just bumping the Fuzztones' LP on British ABC on points of ambition, articulation, and overall accomplishment. It's a treat for music-starved psych-punk fans (or non-fans) around the world, and enough to make one wish the band would reform to tour behind it. Bruce Eder

SOUND CHOICE-April 1987
THE TRYFLES LP
How original. More 60's style garage music! Well done, though. Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, Standels etc. Competence on instruments scores this slightly above average for the genre. It's all been done before, but not always this well....Carol L. Schutzbank

BUSCADERO- DEC. 1986
THE TRYFLES
(Review mentioning the Fuzztones and Outta Place by Massimo Scabbia

THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TRYFLES- TRYFLES
Two NYC-based outfits, both falling under the broad catagory of psych-pop, although occupying opposite ends of that spectrum of sound.
...The Tryfles' debut disc, on the other hand, indicates that they've already arrived at their potential in a big way. TRYFLES is a solid two sides' worth of variations on classic psych-punk themes, with weird snippets of commentary sandwiched in between. It's almost exclusively original compositions (the exceptions being the superb "No", by the Cheepskates' Shane Faubert, and the goof standard "What a Way to Die"), which is a bit unusual in garage. More unusual still is the fact that a good number of these originals, particularly "Lust" and "Bitter Heart" are serious contenders for now-and-future NUGGETS status.

TRYFLES' appeal lies in the fact that it approximates the energy of a live show while sounding sharp like a studio recording. It looks, on the basis of the posters and fanzine covers reproduced on the back covewr of the LP, that these girls and guys have a rabid following of local cave-teen types and I can see why. This band must be an absolute riot live, if they're half as funny and energetic as they are on vinyl. One of '86 garage's gearest moments.--Julie Jurrjens

THE MORNING CALL- Saturday, January 24, 1987
THE TRYFLES- THE TRYFLES
Lyres.. Tryfles...Cheepskates. Yeah, the spellings are correct. And the LP's by these three '60's-inspired garage-rock combos deserve to be noticed, too.
.... As Conolly once observed, the '60's garage scene comes and goes about once a year, as naive new bands bump heads with a stodgy music business. For New York's Tryfles, time has run out. The band is no more, so its self-titled debut LP is a posthumous release. The four Tryfles take their stand on the blue-collar side of rock, and wear their influences like defiant smirks. "Bitter Heart" is like the Standell doing the Stones' "Brown Sugar", "Lust" is their generation's idea of The Who, and "In the End" is a Dylanesque folk-rocker. Fans of the early Stones, Pretty Things' Leaving Trains and Lime Spiders will want to snack on this chewy collection.--Dana Valois

EAST COAST ROCKER- November 19, 1986
INDIE UPDATE:
...The Apple's own Tryfles check in with a self-titled debut album... (H.D.)

LA HERENCIA DE LOS MUNSTER #5&6...A Real Creepzine!!-
TRYFLES-"Idem"-
(Short review describing band members as "2 chicas y 2 chicos" and mentioning the song "Bitter Heart" and quoting lyrics: "What a way to die.")