Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players December 7, 2005

Genre: Indie Rock, Adult Alternative Pop Rock

Like a lot of American families, the Trachtenburgs - Mom (Tina), Dad (Jason), and 11-year-old Rachel - are spending their summer driving around the country. Tina pilots the minivan, since driving makes Jason sleepy. Rachel likes to color, nap, and eat. Any semblance of normal family vacation stops there, though, because the Trachtenburgs are not your normal family.

In fact, the Trachtenburgs are just the sort who might challenge you to define "normal" while they're busy undefining it - a feat they manage morning, noon, and night, but especially at night.
The juxtaposition of nutty pop lyrics, a precocious percussionist, and photographic snippets of the lives of complete strangers is, to understate the fact, utterly irresistible.

What really makes it work is that these folks are totally sincere - Jason's thick glasses, '70s striped tube socks, and conviction that he's changing the art world as we know it aren't an attempt to affect cool. No wonder fans of fantastic freakishness have catapulted TFSP to a happy cult status via excited e-mails: "This band is coming to your town soon. DON'T miss them!"