TRASH TALK - No Peace

A lot of people, at least on the corners of the internet that I observe, don't seem to care much for Trash Talk, and many people seem to in fact hate them, as if they've done something, aside from playing fairly straightforward, perhaps simple, modern hardcore. Maybe that's just the internet these days though, where in 75% of people seem to spew hate on stuff regardless of whether the people behind it are actually douchebags or just random people doing their thing. So far I haven't seen anything to suggest Trash Talk are the former. Maybe it's the fact Trash Talk have been getting some indie attention (something that definitely tends to draw ire in certain circles), and that they have some high-profile friends that a lot of people don't like, but as far as I'm concerned, Trash Talk is just four dudes playing hardcore, and they're pretty good at making tunes that I like.

These days I do therefore pay attention when something new sees the light of day, coming out of the Trash Talk camp. I didn't really give them much attention until 119 came out in 2012 though, and that one was a real eye-opener. It's predecessor, 2010's Eyes and Nines, was alright and had its moments, but the 119 LP is just fantastic, almost in its entirety. Lots of speed and a lot of catchy yet not boring riffs, and loads of anger.

I was a bit worried though when No Peace's "Cloudkicker" surfaced on the internet a while ago (maybe it's high expectations from 119). The track features bland songwriting for the most part, the vocals aren't that great and the clean vocals are basically annoying. But when you listen to No Peace (which is a bad title btw) as a whole, it turns out Trash Talk or the label decided to pre-release probably the weakest track from this more than good enough album.

No Peace is quite similar to its predecessor 119, although it goes off in a few more directions than the simple yet effective 119 did. There's a bit more experimentation, which I guess is unavoidable when you don't play your entire album with power chords (119 is a testament to the fact you can make a fantastic album doing so). So in that regard I guess No Peace is better than 119, but I'm not sure I enjoy it more than 119, which was frankly always going to be a tough job.

To begin with, I don't particularly like the sound of No Peace. At least not on the more "traditional" tracks. The intro sounds really good for example, but the tracks that are up tempo guitar driven hardcore punk don't sound nearly as good as 119 did. The vocals are either weirdly mixed, or the vocalist has lost the edge that he had to his piercing voice ("Locked in Skin" has fantastic vocals though, they seem to have mixed them in a less annoying way there). The guitar then definitely lacks treble for my taste, at least in the more d-beat style up tempo tracks, where the guitar really needs to cut a bit more through than it does. It seemed to have so much more treble on 119.

I don't really have much to say about the bass, and I don't really notice it, which in this kind of songwriting means it's done well I guess. The drums are also alright, although I'm not sure I like the sound on the bass drum. In my ears it sounds a bit too much like someone high-fiving a lump of mud. It could definitely be better, and a bit higher in the mix. The drumming itself I like, though.

Overall the riffs and the songwriting are great, which means that while the sound annoys me a bit I'm banging my head all the way through. 119 was a fantastic effort and this one is really pretty good, in its own different way, although I'm a tad bit afraid that this album won't be remembered very long. What this album has in common with 119 though, and which is a big plus, is how well it flows. Each track comes seamlessly after the next, except maybe after the intro, which admittedly is markedly different from what comes after it and indeed most of the album, which is not hip hop but hardcore punk. I can forgive the perhaps awkward transition though, because the intro is just that good. And that should be the guideline for all music really: if it's good, use it.

I guess what seals the deal the most for me is the fact that I notice when I put the album on at home and start doing stuff on the computer, I start to bang my head unconsciously along to the groove pretty soon. Thumbs up. [Odd Future]
- Kristján Friðbjörn

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