It’s been more than 20 years since Trans Am emerged as one of the leaders of the post-rock movement. The trio’s blend of standard instrumentation with electronics made them an interesting way station of the emerging alternative nation. And at a time when so many bands were angling to be the voice of a generation, Trans Am didn’t even bother to have vocals initially. In the Trans Am catalog, the inherent DNA and direct manifestation of Krautrock and Kraftwerk, classic rock and metal, electro, and punk all exist. It’s a wide-reaching palette that the band draws from for its 10th album, with the on-the-nose title, Volume X (Thrill Jockey).

Within that wide range of influences, though, Trans Am has always played it relatively straight. There’s no drag-and-drop of styles within songs, as with some of their contemporaries. Instead their albums have been cohesive journeys through whatever has tickled their collective fancy at the time. There has been some merging of sonic signatures, but no channel-surfing cut and stitch. Volume X continues this trend, but it also has the benefit of being influenced by the band’s outside work. Drummer Sebastian Thomson also plays with metal band Baroness, while guitarist and occasional vocalist Phil Manley has his Life Coach side project and is a recording engineer. While not overbearing, there feels like a more pronounced metal feel in the execution of songs like “Backlash” and “Megastorm,” with aggressive guitar and drumming present. Yet, there’s still a chocolate sampler of styles happening. The more metallic songs are butted up against vocoder-led electro love songs, with a splash of acoustic balladry and a tiny pinch of an ambient undercurrent. If you’ve liked Trans Am at any point, there’s something that will resonate with you.

However, Volume X is not without its sticking points. Sequentially, there’s a jagged flow, where some of the most aggressive songs are placed next to some of the more delicate and then back again. In another sequence, the juxtaposition could be like a palate cleanser. Instead, they’re whiplash transitions. To be fair the band does try to put space in between the songs and in the arrangements so that it’s not so jarring, but it doesn’t always work. Another slip up is “K Street,” a jokey short song that seems like the kind of afterthought usually reserved for a hidden bonus track. Its lacking is all the more striking because all of the other songs are so fully formed. But such concerns are minor as Trans Am is playing as well as they’ve ever had and still have sharp minds for arrangements and songwriting. Volume X may not be a definitive statement for Trans Am, but it’s a respectable addition to the catalog.