Trash Culture
Just A Ride LP
Dead Beat Records
January 18, 2019

Trash Culture is music to fight your boss to. Just A Ride is one of those rare recordings where the uncapped savage energy from the live performances actually translates onto the record.

The first time I saw Trash Culture was a few years ago, long before they had anything recorded. I was familiar with some of the bands Cunha and the band’s drummer, Glenn, have worked with before, but I really didn’t know what to expect. I was completely blown away by the energy and raw performance.

When I heard they had a record coming out, I was somewhat nervous. You never know how well a good live band will translate onto record. But, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cunha’s intensity absolutely translates onto vinyl. No doubt, this is partially thanks to Los Pepes singer and all around sound guru, Ben Perrier, who recorded and mixed the album.

The lead singer, Cunha, is an absolute madman on stage. He’s an extremely high-energy performer, and much like The Stooges, who he has clearly been influenced by, he’s not above hurting himself for the sake of his art. The first time I saw them play he somehow cut his head open and just kept going without flinching. I’ve also seen him do things with other bands like go into the crowd with a drum.

Trash Culture is nihilistic and savage in their sound, showing obvious influences from bands such as The Stooges, Dead Kennedy’s and Adolescents. But they’re not just limited to great energy; their lyrics are clever and their music changes slightly to suit their lyrics and the feeling of each song.

The lyrics to ‘Can’ are funny and relatable – a song about trying to get drunk on payday only to find out your local pub’s become a victim to gentrification. ‘Can’ sounds like it could be a modern revisitation to the Dead Kennedy’s. It’s clearly not one of their songs, but the influence really shines through to me. You don’t really see people channeling Dead Kennedy’s that much these days, so it doesn’t seem played out.

Songs like ‘Shout’ and ‘I Wanna Die’ live up to their names. ‘Shout’ has a more animalistic quality and simple lyrics “confusion, insanity, deep sadness, consuming me.” The final track, ‘SOS’, has a more hardcore Spits like quality to it.

All of the songs on this album are a little different from each other, while still being completely cohesive. Just A Ride is very simple and raw, but extremely creative at the same time. You definitely want to make this one of your first vinyl purchases of 2019.

The album is out today on Dead Beat Records. Tracks will be available on Trash Culture’s bandcamp sometime next week.

Just A Ride LP
Just A Ride LP Red Special Edition

-Linsey McFadden