For a very fortunate reason Trash Boat came into my musical rotation relatively early. It was the year 2015 when their song "Perspective" popped up on a random playlist of mine and I got me swooning over instantly; it is that exact moment when you realize you’ve come across a delicate gem, one finding its way to the light and one that you have to keep close attention to because you know something extraordinary is coming. If I could see it, the people over at Hopeless Records sure did know what kind of treasure they had stumbled upon. "Nothing I Write You Can Change What You’ve Been Through" hit in mid 2016 and it had heavy playing time for me up until recently. It was when "Crown Shyness" was teased and then finally released a few days ago. For good or for bad my expectations for Trash Boat’s new album were extremely high. Where they met?
When a certain record by a certain band is something like the “record of the year” for you, the band’s follow up record is usually kind of a downer. It is The Law. "Shade" was the first single off of the album and, in this context, given my “history” with Trash Boat, I was kind of disappointed; this is what happens with becoming too emotionally attached with a particular record. Still, I knew better and I let time pass by, waiting for "Crown Shyness" to be released in full, letting it finally sink in with every listen.
See, you can either get stuck in the past forever or embrace previous experiences and move on; music and literature has this effect. Every chapter has its own legacy and importance, the essence of independence and individuality. The progression of Trash Boat this record shines through first of all in the album’s artwork; “we’re overcoming everything present in the previous album, breaking through the canopy”.
Trash Boat are essentially a pop punk band hailing from the UK and blend various musical elements from punk rock to what today is described as melodic hardcore and "Crown Shyness" weighs heavier on the latter side. This is what differentiates the band from the overwhelming wave of pop punk acts of this decade; the heaviness. "Crown Shyness" is a distinctively heavy pop punk rock record, Tobi Duncan’s voice is as strong and consistent as ever, the music is punk/hardcore based and the outcome is a modern pop punk record, in the end a record different from everything else in a while in this genre.
Everything flows perfectly for most of "Crown Shyness", so - excluding the title acoustic track - every other song on Trash Boat’s new LP put together is slowly bringing me to the conclusion of another one of my favorite records of the year.
Favorite Tracks: "Inside Out", "Shade", "Nothing New", "Old Soul" (!!), "Don’t Open Your Eyes", "Love Hate React Relate".
Well done lads.
8.5/10
0 σχόλια :
Post a Comment