Truculent
Truculent is what happens when one guitar embodies an entire worldview. Bending time, tone, and tuning at will, mastermind Dan Timlin transforms everyday sounds and experimental guitar into equal parts protest, meditation, and memoir – with political and emotional intensity woven
into each reverberation.
Truculent’s name derives from the meaning of speaking harshly – a clever juxtaposition for musical creations that speak without words. With guitar as his medium, Timlin realized how the instrument allowed him to express himself with messages transmitted through sound, and fully convey accompanying emotions. Throughout this path, he found a form of meditation, connecting the body and the brain and orienting the fretboard not as a grid, but as a wide-open plane for rhythm, melody, and limitless self-expression.
Truculent’s roots lie in avant-garde, spontaneous recordings of noises of the city, incidental sounds of daily work and life layered and merged with guitar compositions to form the basis for exploration of sound. The first release From The Shadow of the Refinery was unleashed on
German punk label Turbo Discos, beginning to channel Truculent’s anti-fascist politically-toned energy into the music. 2020’s A Worker’s Guide to Transfiguration became the catalyst for what Truculent is today, ranging from thoroughly composed works to sparks of ideas showcasing a documentary-style slice of life soundscape. Listen, Little Man! experimented with music over an audiobook in reaction to fascism, followed by Caviling The Facts! And other mechanisms of oppression, which continued a path of fierce political statements and complex sound layers.
Incidental noises, found sounds, and environmental influences are infused into the grounded yet haunting essence of Truculent, while vocals are sparse enough to be meaningful when present. With Dan Angel as the primary engineer, the mix stands as a performance in itself. The forthcoming Born For The Gallows Or The Wheel is the most immersive and expansive project of Truculent’s yet. Hearkening back to the aura of King Crimson, Truculent provides a conceptual album that can withstand listening out of sequence, with interconnecting threads that run through it – the record never plays the same way twice.
Each Truculent release on Timin’s benfit record label Strange Mono Records supports a different cause, with proceeds benefiting The Bail Fund during Worker’s Guide, The Gaza Soup Kitchen on Caviling The Facts!, and the National Bail Fund on the latest album, Born For The Gallows Or The Wheel.
More than a project or band, Truculent is a practice, where Timlin crafts songs and builds environments of immersive storytelling, both in the studio and on the stage. As the world of Truculent continues to evolve, listeners are certain to find new and unpredictable experiences that reflect Truculent’s ever-expanding sonic landscape.
Born For The Gallows Or The Wheel is set for a 10/10/25 release via Strange Mono Records. The vinyl release will include an 8-page booklet with tuning diagrams and a manifesto authored by Timlin.
“We are receivers of the past and transmitters to the future. Transmission is a choice, but it is also built into our subconscious. In the search for a deeper understanding of yourself, you will find a deeper understanding of others. Seek out the mysteries in yourself to illuminate the mysteries in others.
The homonyms raised and razed are especially interesting to me. They reflect, in no uncertain terms, the duality of human society. Are we meant to be building or destroying? The idea of the martyred saints is so intriguing because; they were subjected to such acts of cruelty that it should reasonably prove that there is no merciful god, but turns instead into supreme evidence of his existence. Accuse your enemy of that which you, yourself are guilty.
Often the more impressive someone appears the more fearful they are inside.
It’s easier to bleed than sweat.”
CONTACT
Booking: strangemonorecords[at]gmail.com
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PRESS
“It’s a sound that itself embodies living within anger and strength on hostile or friendly terms. Cut names reference the animals as much as images of either blight or boon, religion and mythology, amongst the dallies of increasingly absurd life. Many tracks prioritize brevity, snapshots of these 4 co-existing in a mindful balance, where this MO could theoretically play out. As much as recalling spaces of communion, from railyards and backroom bars to the streets of South Philly’s Point Breeze. Amongst caterwauling finger picking and devious dirges, there is a white hot intensity even in Timlin’s restrain over these 16 tracks.” – Matty McPherson (Tabs Out)
“The songs ping from instrumental guitar arrangements to confessional folk songs to guitar arrangements paired with samples. Nothing feels out of place- this is a wholly cohesive, meditative ambient record.” – Sims Hardin (u2_is_a_government_drone)
“earthy acoustic journeys that harness the aesthetic of William Tyler and the pedal steel atmospheric bliss of Suss” – Sun-13
“Another incredible release from my home base… Philly’s Truculent never disappoints.” – Sims Hardin (u2_is_a_government_drone)