Flying the flag for the American hardcore scene, Trash Talk have been revelling in hype since the release of 2010’s critically acclaimed and slightly higher profile Eyes & Nines. For many hardcore acts, endorsements from such enormous entities as Rolling Stone and BBC Radio can easily become a career killer.
Yet it’s Trash Talk’s DIY ethic, spit in your face attitude and ability to sound fresh while retaining a distinctly throwback sound that has kept their reputation untarnished amongst the underground, while becoming the mainstream’s latest novelty.
119 sees the band moving away from their own collective and releasing their latest long player through Odd Future’s label; a peculiar choice to say the least.
The first act not directly a part of OFWGKTA to release a record on the label, Trash Talk’s blunt force brutality is far from the hip-hop collective’s shock tactic rap.
Regrettably, Hodgy Beats and Tyler the Creator show up on ‘Blossom & Burn’ to do their best impression of punk rockers, coming off as juvenile; as Hodgy hollers “eenie meenie miny mo/ you got a fuckin’ problem?”
Thankfully that’s the beginning and end of Odd Future’s shenanigans on the album.
Instead Trash Talk strip back their sound and deliver a grimy street punk record. ‘My Rules’ threatens to break your neck with a Pantera inspired blast of loathing, while ‘Fuck Nostalgia’s pent up anger fights to unleash, anchored by a methodical pummelling rhythm. Frontman Lee Spielman’s vocals are cut up and gnarly as ever, and the vocal recordings are suitably lo-fi.
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The only complaint is the running time of the record, odd for an album that barely hits the 22 minute mark; and with their previous effort to date only 17 minutes, 22 minutes feels like an eternity.
Best experienced in concise hits of fury, 119 feels as though it outsays it’s welcome and could have benefitted from a more compact track list.
In reality, a minor niggle. Trash Talk held up their reputation with another high calibre hardcore attack. Proving themselves a force to be reckoned with an absolutely vicious record, one that justifies the hype, while distinctly identifying themselves as part of the counter-culture.
