BETA
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Trash Fashion's debut features their aggressive post-hardcore influenced dance-punk sound, with a couple dashes of electronica. The band themselves describe this sound as "Guntronic Disco Warehouse Rock", and despite being new rave, it sounds like this album should've been released 7 years earlier. Having a dated sound is one thing, and it can be difficult to execute. (Spoilers! They don't execute it very well here.)
Since they're a dance-punk band, you'd expect to find some slick and punchy grooves set for the dancefloor; or maybe some fast-paced electronica with a funky beat and jagged guitarwork? They only had the ability to work themselves into some nice and slick grooves on three of the tracks. The opener, 'Why Can't We Be Friends', and 'Spread The Love' showcase the band's best work. After that, the band end up repeating themselves.
They're most known for their single 'It's A Rave Dave', which is the sleaziest track on the record. Hugely inspired by electroclash with it's monotone vocals, groovy bassline, and buzzing synths, what could go wrong? The execution. The vocals do not fit into this at all. The instrumentation hide the vocals from being in the spotlight, and it feels uninspired; it sounds like they tried to recreate Peaches' "Fuck The Pain Away" without trying to make it too obvious.
The rest is forgettable. They do try bringing electronics into their sound, easily heard on "Spread The Love" and "Terminator Thieving", but the results are shaky. This album could've been improved if it had better mixing. It's very DIY-esque which I know some people can get behind, but I'm not big of a fan of it. The screaming quickly becomes grating and overused, but thankfully the choruses save these songs from getting worse. I could be taking these guys too seriously, since the lyrics some of these tracks have and "It's A Rave Dave" alone should be proof that they're just having fun with what they have, it's likely they're not even taking themselves seriously. Perhaps this album isn't for everyone.
