The buzz surrounding Californian hardcore act Trash Talk has been building strongly since their formation in 2005. Now, with album number four, Trash Talk have released an album that pretty perfectly encapsulates their live show.
The album is a blast of sinewy, cantankerous gutter punk. From opener Eat The Cycle its intent is clear. Songs are slashed through – of 119's 14 tracks, none go over two-and-a-half minutes – to the point where the lead-off drumbeats are actually more memorable than their choruses. The album seethes with a crash'n'burn intent, and is dysfunctional, angry and belligerent.
But that's the hallmark of good hardcore, right? Shouldn't it sound like an anarchic collection of noise? You could argue that, but then you could also argue that some of the 119 material sounds sloppily put together, as if the band were more interested in smoking weed or skateboarding than making the best record possible. Cuts like Uncivil Disobedience seem like efforts in furthering the band's 'nihilism chic' image – the one that all the blogs seem to be going gaga over – rather than contributing something to the album. And the record's would-be home run, the jagged, paranoid post-punk number Blossom & Burn, is reduced to an awkward mess when the band try to shoe-horn in a brief verse from Tyler, The Creator. Surely Tyler signing the band to his label is enough of an endorsement, the verse just seems gratuitous.
119 certainly has a lot going for it, but unless you're a tastemaker with a subscription to Vice, after listening to it you might just want to retreat into your favourite Black Flag record.
