The Trail Of Dead: Hot Source.

Source Tags And Codes is in stores now.

Jason Reece is trying to figure out whether I have any taste or I'm just another boring journalist trying to make sense of his bunch of fuzzed out Texans with a wonderfully evocative name. On paper they're weird; over the phone less so. They have a reputation for toying with their interviewers but Reece doesn't seem so bad. He's a quick - if slightly sardonic - thinker who - with Conrad Keely - founded the quartet, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, that borrows its name from a glyph discovered to be present in distantly-related ancient cultures including that of the Mayans.

"Which Austin, Texas, performers do you think are cool?" he enquires. "Willie Nelson, The Butthole Surfers?" Both. "Or were you referring to some of the shit?" Mmm, like. "Do you like Stevie Ray Vaughan?" Yes. "I guess that's alright with me but The Fabulous Thunderbirds, they're awful, man." Agreed. "Some of the riff-rock around here is really redundant. There's a bit of the old cosmic cowboy scene; a burned-out, really ridiculous, bunch of old rockers. Then you have these young guys who just want to be Stevie Ray Vaughan. You just want to get your shotgun and put a few rounds in the motherfuckers. In Austin you have everything from hip-hop to pachinko music; there's a pile of shit bands, and some great punk, blues and jazz bands."

And it has the Trail Of Dead, who grew up in the small Christian community of Planoe, better known for its cattle ranches and its single corner grocer than for its music. Reece, Keely and Neil Busch all attended the same Sunday school at the Planoe Anabaptist Ministry (fourth member Kevin Allen's parents were Presbyterian). The foursome apparently shared an interest in the sciences and literature but also a love of singing. In Junior High they joined the church choir where they competed in vocal ensemble competitions. Serious.

"We sang these progressive hymns that are more pop-influenced; ones like 'Jesus is love, yeah... Jesus is love, yeah, yeah'. It was really gospel influenced. The church was pretty cool but then they found out that we had started this rock band and they started persecuting our beliefs."

Sounding not unlike Mogwai meets Jesus & The Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine (the classic Loveless is a Reece favourite) and Husker Du in Lift To Experience's ballpark, the Trail Of Dead show an unerring sense of melody while simmering in a vat of sustain, feedback and space; yes, a touch of Sonic Youth lingers there as well.

"This record represents our voice more than ever whereas before our influences were definitely noticeable. It feels like it's our version of punk rock, of rock'n'roll. We're trying to conjure up a similar spirit of pursuing music that has depth and substance instead of having this candy you put on in the background. When we record we try and channel the elements of Brian Eno and the energy of The Who."

And while all the pseudo-philosophizing above - they invented it, not me - is either a load of verbose intellectualism or a long-winded pisstake, the Trail Of Dead aren't just a bunch of silly boys playing cynical rock star. With Source Tags And Codes they have become a significant band and a distinct product of both their time and place.

"Growing up in Planoe influenced us a lot," Reece says. "First of all, growing up that way wasn't easy. You're isolated from anything popular. You don't really have this typical suburban situation that you deal with. You're forced to find and search for what you want. Whether it's punk rock or books that are hard to find, you have to find a way to get it or there is just nothing but those people, many of who spend a lot of time outdoors on the land, and a couple of stores. In it isn't as much so now because everything has become so homogenized over the past five or so years but when I was growing up it was hard to be exposed to anything culturally valuable."

The title, Source Tags And Codes, says it all.

"It's a statement of our background," Reece says. "Of our experience of going from a farming community - an everybody-knows-your-name-small-town-society - to a world that's vast where technology becomes the main focus. It's like this strange observation of the apocalypse or the society that is being foisted upon us, right now. It's sort of like Bladerunner in one way. The more I travel around the world, going to places like Japan, even Brazil, I see this strange Bladerunner-esque image of the world. It seems everything is going into this technological course but it's also detrimental to our health.”

“I feel like we're looking at it from more of a detached perspective. I don't think we're trying to make a statement of how we feel; it's more of like how it influenced our beings. Someone has to step up and be a rock band that challenges or provokes a reaction, and I hope we're that band."