Premiere: Trickster Guru, ‘The Reminder’

Kevin Bronson on April 4th, 2016

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Trickster Guru, the musical moniker of singer-songwriter-producer Christopher Caplan, this week unveils Act III of his episodic “Problem Child” EP, a collection of bluesy pop and unrestrained rockers that display substantial range and are not always what they seem. The EP spans eight tracks, bookended by a revivalesque “Invocation” and the spoken-word “Gratitude,” and the Guru’s two-song “acts” have included songs about a 1970s cult leader, a car crash fatal to a group of teenagers, his own bloodletting on love and death and now a rave-up about, Caplan says, “a serial killer having a good day.” That would be “The Reminder,” a galloping, noisy rocker in which the narrator delights in taking a walk in the park and “finding the key to your house.” Act III’s closer is “Little Butterfly,” which does provide some closure — although if you listen closely, not in the ideal way. “Problem Child,” which features the talents of Nick Stratton, Jason Aguja, Dylan Fenley and the producer AWAY, will be available digitally Tuesday, although the first 100 attendees tonight at It’s a School Night will get a free physical copy.

||| Stream: “The Reminder” and “Little Butterfly”