Faves: lil qoo, BURNMATERIAL, ( ╥﹏╥ ) (motion sickness), landslide
the only other songs of tsubi club that i had listened to before this album were laced up (2024) and burbank house (2021), which i absolutely loved the energy of. so when this album landed into my discovery, i was very delighted to hear it.
some of this album's songs had been in rotation on my spotify radio for a while now, and it wasn't until a few months ago that i finally decided to actually listen to the full thing. it's so energetic, full of little sound bytes that know how to build up the hype to a really fun beat, while still having a few experimental moments in some songs. you can really hear how inspired this album is, it's a mix of EDM, hyperpop, midwestern emo, and even samba elements that work together so harmoniously they don't even clash.
it's punchy, fiery, sunny! i love how this album is as much about making art as it is about learning about oneself. it's a journey that tsubi club has graciously allowed us to be on the rollercoaster ride for. i would absolutely love to hear this music live, but that's a long shot to ask for where i'm from.
there are no music videos or visualizers for this album, and there seem to be no current plans for any as of writing this, so we're focusing on the music today! though i must say it features a gorgeous cover art by with some references to the songs in the tracklist. i'll leave my interpretations for that at the bottom of this log.
the voice of 1daniel riordan colors the album's story in short clips. he voices some of phil's lines in the disney animated movie Hercules (1997), cheering me on like a coach for my baseball team, and i do not wanna disappoint. riordan does a phenomenal job with the voice work and sets the tone for such a hyped up atmosphere in each song he's featured in. it actually made me rewatch Hercules (1997), and it was such a joy. i missed the musical theater story structure of old disney animated movies, which is something i kind of feel within the structure of trinket's songlist.
soren
@tsubiclub
i think i was meant to make cartoons but i accidentally learned how to make music instead.. trinket is as close as i could get within my personal toolset. feels like the most honest thing i’ve managed to make so far in that way. excited to feel seen:)
Apr 5, 2026
the music
lil qoo
(...) I feel
A rush from my head to feet, there's something I'm meant to be
I guess something came over me (...)
I'm feeling something I've never seen, I fell in love with me
i just wanna say using the wtfboom sound effect immediately sent me back in time to old youtube poops, adobe flash animations, and old lego stop motions, i love it.
this song is really special to me just because of how much i resonate with it. after going through, and still facing, immense burnout from art school (among other things), making art for myself just hasn't been a luxury i've had for a long while now.
the percussion within the song is heavily based on brazilian samba music, and it excellently elevates the vibe to be something exciting and festive. i love how this song knows how to pull us back in with that guitar and bass in the gentler moments, and then amp the energy back up with the percussion.
after the wave of experimental instrumentals ushering us into the story with reclusive wizard leaves tower and the repetitive lyrics in You're serious, aren't you ?, wherein the main character tries to make a song sound the exact way he wants it to, lil qoo takes us through his mind as he contemplates on how making art makes him feel. i love all these songs, i think i just have a lot more to say about lil qoo so it gets its own section :]
the intro sings in a robotic voice about the basic process of starting an art piece, repeating to the point of exploding and losing themself. afterwards, someone else sings about having made 'you' with hope that 'you' were different. i read this as an artist (or creator) speaking to its art (or creation). this song essentially is about an artist who tries to express himself and all his feelings into an art piece, burning out, but still finding himself missing the joy of creation. no matter how long it takes, humans were meant to create, and the art that's inside your soul will always find its way back to you. at least to me in my opinion!!!!!!
I went and made something (Oh), tell me what you think— i'm so excited to feel seen :)
BURNMATERIAL
the way the intro's repetitive splicing of the word 'back' kinda references lil qoo's "I went right back" lyric makes such a cool transition from that song to BURNMATERIAL, implying their connection. BURNMATERIAL feels like the result of what happens in lil qoo, going right back to the process of making art despite the burnout, and what the protag wants out of it.
a lot of the imagery in BURNMATERIAL evokes, of course, burning everything up in dancing flames and watching the ashes float away; hoping that someone can see the smoke and answer their call. all the while there's a desire to "[Turn] something to nothing / And I don't care what happens / I'll make it all burn"— it brings to my mind the idea of slash-and-burn agriculture, where everything in a forest is chopped down and burnt to create a bed of nutrient rich soil from the ashes for future plants to grow.
the protagonist of BURNMATERIAL talks about his desire to start over all the time; that he wants to shake out of the comfort and stability of his current state in life for something greater. though it seems he goes through things to the extreme, as starting over feels like leaving a part of himself to die.
Saw me, saw me
A hundred times we've been over this, boy, please
I love the way the sun feels on my body
I'm wondering if I should jump and let it burn me
these lyrics draw parallels to the story of icarus in my mind, of wanting to fly so high as to reach the heavens, burning up like the star he was aiming for. it seems even the protag is aware that nothing can shake him out of this idea.
basically, the simple way of reading this is that the protagonist wants to make some fire fuckin music 🔥🔥🔥 that booms through the club in hopes that he can truly feel seen, but at the risk of seeming reductive, pretend that that was your idea, not mine.
in a way, i love how its hopeful ideals are contrasted with the visceral imagery of burning everything down. when you pour yourself into your art, giving up on it can feel like cutting off a piece of yourself; but we are transient and can never be truly defined by one thing, so we ask ourselves 'is this how i want to be seen, as i am, right now?' like i always tell myself, it's okay to start over.
( ╥﹏╥ ) (motion sickness)
Been seeing patterns for a minute, guiding my decisions
I made a rollercoaster designed to take me closer (Yo)
To something I swear I've been missing out on
this song makes me sad :( but in the good way that art is supposed to make you feel things.
i love how the chorus takes us through the cycle of starting over that our protag is so prone to from BURNMATERIAL. we fucks with this shit until we don't. the constant self-scrutiny and falling in and out of love with one's own art, it's real as hell.
with the first verse, the protag knows that he's living a comfortable and happy life, but there is one nagging voice in his head that gets to him. a voice that tells him that he's missing out on something big, that he's taking too long, that he's focused on all the wrong things.
i'm a fan of the roller coaster analogy, life is often referred to as one; but in this instance, the protag says that he designed the ride himself to take him closer to what he's been missing out on. however, the roller coaster only gives him motion sickness, blazing through so many turns and twists to try and reach some imaginary goal.
bbbackboard + Recap :
i'm not really gonna hyper-analyze these two songs (i believe they speak for themselves), i just wanted them to have their own special section in this log. they're beautiful, incredibly heartfelt, and full of love and care. you can tell it's a reflection of the artist. i'm glad these songs exist.
landslide
incredibly catchy! i love that verse coming in the middle of the second chorus, makes for such good ear candy. it makes it a lot more endearing to learn that it seems to be inspired by a song from the cartoon network show clarence (2014). not exactly confirmed, but the similarities are very much noticeable, plus there was a clarence sound clip sampled in all-time chump as well.
the repeating mantra of "If you wanna hit the ball farther / Swing the bat harder" throughout the song kind of encapsulates a lot of the story arc in this album. in order to reach the great lengths of your goals, you gotta put in the work for it; but the risk of a big swing is of course a big miss. this time though, the protag doesn't seem too bothered by the pressure.
... (What's real)
... (Made up on the fly)
... (It felt like on TV, glowin')
... (The bases are loaded)
this time, it seems he's finally realized what's real and true and what matters most. he doesn't shy away from taking that big swing, and i like to think that whether or not he hits a home run, he'll have won.
album art interpretation
none of this is definitive and mostly based on vibes. for the record, i don't think BUMPR represents the cat, but the cat has a very "address me" type of energy that i couldn't ignore. so it's assigned BUMPR now. i also wanted to mention that i love the little squares of unwrapped 3D model textures everywhere.
i asked my american friends to assess the baseball scoreboard in the back for me (a reliable demographic for baseball knowledge) and i learned a little bit about the sport myself. this was just so i could see if it had any narrative relevance to landslide. apparently, as the teams are tied at 8 RUN, they're currently at the top of the 10th inning with GUEST team having had more HITS than HOME team. the lyrics also tell us that the bases are loaded and primed for a 2Grand Slam. we're never really told if our protagonist is on the GUEST or HOME team, but regardless with the coach character saying he won by a landslide, it can be assumed that he won a home run with that Grand Slam. as to why ERR. for HOME team is an X, none of us can figure out.
though it's only been month 8 out of 12, trinket is currently my favorite album of the year, competing with 3U by underscores. emphasis on currently. james ivy's The Seams hasn't even come out yet! i can't possibly make such a decision at this time.
truthfully, my only gripe is that i wish that the songs were a little longer! most songs are in the 1-2 minute range, which is such a shame, because i'd love to spend more time with this album and let some parts in the shorter songs stick around for just a little while longer.
i love tsubi club's philosophy of free art for everyone forever. they allow people to 4download the stems of their songs and use their music anywhere. it's incredibly in the spirit of this album. i'd use some of their songs in my own streams for background music, but i'm scared of getting too hyped. who knows what would happen if i started bouncing around the walls while live. one thing's for certain, this album has greatly inspired me and my music making process.