Camp Trash – The Long Way, The Slow Way | Album Review

I love deceptive music. More specifically, I love pop music that is so bubblegum it becomes saccharine. Those types of songs where the more that sickly sweet flavor sits on your tongue, you begin to realize how dark and upsetting it is. You can spit out the gum if you want to, but you can’t get rid of the taste it left in your mouth. No, it’s gonna stay there. It’s gonna remind you of the decision you made to ingest this seemingly delightful candy. You’ve been duped, and now you have to see the song for its true colors. 

Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” comes to mind. Filled with blaring guitar chords and “doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo’s,” the song deftly slides into your subconscious. You’re singing along, and you don’t even realize it. Maybe you’re starting to get a sense of what lies beneath the surface, but when Stephan Jenkins finally utters the words “crystal meth,” the glass breaks, and it is now all too clear that you’ve been singing along to a stark drug ballad. There is no coming back from this; it’s the “Ring Around The Rosie” effect. You can keep shouting the lyrics, but you will always know what the song is about.

Florida’s Camp Trash practices this sort of arcane magic. Their debut album, The Long Way, The Slow Way, is filled with songs like “Semi-Charmed Life.” The tracks come across as summery indie rock loaded with massive hooks and slick melodies. You know where I’m going with this. The lyrics are not in line with the instruments. They’re pained and anxious self-assessments that are harsh but honest. 

“When did I get so hard to love?” muses Bryan Gorman over a punchy drum beat on “Soft.” Early single “Weird Florida” is a high-energy pop rock song that begs to be blasted from a boombox while you cannonball into the pool with your boys but acts as a facade for the story of a summer relationship that was doomed from the start. The penultimate track, “Riley,” digs into the apathy of knowing you need to end a relationship but wanting the other person to call it off because you can’t do it yourself. 

Many songs have that cool, breezy tone mastered by bands like Built to Spill, but in no way are they derivative. Camp Trash can write one hell of a hook, but they are more than just a pop rock band. On my favorite track, “Another Harsh Toyotathon,” they step outside of the radio hit structure to deliver something that falls somewhere between Pavement and Jesu. Behind the heavily distended bass, Gorman delivers one of the more savage burns I’ve heard in years as he shouts, “You’re an only child: what do you know about being replaced?” Album closer “Feel Something” even hints at the possibility that, in spite of all of the anxiety and self-doubt that’s expressed throughout the album, meaningful change can be achieved.

So maybe not all of the songs on The Long Way, The Slow Way fit my bubblegum analogy, but a lot of them do, so I’m sticking to it. But don’t let my willingness to die on this self-constructed hill deter you from Camp Trash’s achievement because this is one of the most well-crafted debuts to come along in a long while. 

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Connor lives in Emeryville with his partner and their cat and dog, Toni and Hachi. Connor is a student at San Francisco State University and is working toward becoming a community college professor. When he isn’t listening to music or writing about killer riffs, Connor is obsessing over coffee and sandwiches.

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The Best of January 2021

Well, it’s January, and that means we’ve entered another terrible, horrible, no-good-year. January is one of my least favorite times of the year for no particular reason other than the fact that it feels like a month-long Monday. Getting “back to it” has never been harder than it was this year, but, as usual, music helped me make it through. 

New music is especially exciting in January because all of it feels fresh. There’s just something cool about seeing that “2021” at the top of a newly released album, even if the novelty wears off quickly. It’s refreshing to start on a clean slate when it comes to music, even if most of what I’m listening to still comes from previous years.

Despite the fact that COVID has thrown off pretty much every album rollout in existence, we have still received a wealth of fantastic new tunes this month. As usual, I wanted to write about all of these excellent new pieces of music, but reality had other plans. I quickly came to terms with my fickle inspiration, realizing that I can’t write full reviews, premieres, or detailed breakdowns about all of my favorite music no matter how hard I tried. My mind went back three years to 2018, where I composed short new music round-ups at the end of each month, which allowed me to highlight some of my favorite releases from the preceding 30-some-odd days. 

I figured why not pick that effort back up again and see how far I can take it? Writing about that many new releases each month was taxing, but it also forced me to keep up on new music and kept me from overthinking my writing. Will I keep this up all year? Probably not. Will I try? You’re damn right. Enough preamble. Without further adieu, I’m excited to present my favorite pieces of new music from January of 2021.

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Camp Trash - Downtiming

Count Your Lucky Stars Records

First up, we have the debut EP from Florida’s hottest new emo-pop act. Emerging as an enigmatic anomaly, Camp Trash was one of those bands that managed to steadily gain buzz on Twitter, eventually leveraging that hype into a record deal with Count Your Lucky Stars despite not having a single song publicly released. Opening track “Bobby” is a bouncy and energetic emo track that’s equal parts Oso Oso and Get Up Kids. Whether it’s the ragged “Sleepyhead,” the acoustic “Potoimno,” or the anthemic “Weird Carolina,” it’s hard to think of anything that’s missing from Downtiming. It may only be 12 minutes long, but this is a tremendous little emo release with just enough pop sensibilities that you’ll be singing along to these tracks in your car in no time. If Downtiming had been released in the early 2000s, this EP would have been lauded as much anything off of your favorite Vagrant Records release.

Beach Bunny - Blame Game

Mom+Pop Music

One year ago, half of the music industry saw Beach Bunny as a “TikTok Band,” a dismissive label for a group that managed to garner millions of streams based thanks to their confessional songwriting and sharp hooks. The fact that their songs went viral on TikTok wasn’t key to their success; it was proof that they were on the right track. After a string of fantastic EPs and singles, Beach Bunny released their debut album in February of 2020, an album that unilaterally proved the group’s success was no fluke. Centered around lead singer Lili Trifilio’s defiant voice and effervescent melodies, Honeymoon announced Beach Bunny’s arrival in earnest. One year later, they’ve given us Blame Game, a four-song EP that acts as a follow-up to the feelings explored on last year’s LP. Focusing on the same topics of love life, shitty guys, and sexist double standards, Blame Game shows that Beach Bunny is here to stay, and I cannot wait to see what sugary sweet bubblegum melodies their next release possesses. 

Abe Anderson - Seasick Lullaby 

Brace Cove Records

Much like pirates would eat a lime or lemon to stave off scurvy; I need a steady diet of brass and horns in my music to feel genuinely at peace. That’s why it was so refreshing to hit play on Seasick Lullaby and be greeted with two minutes of triumphant horns that warmly welcomed me into the release and gently caressed my soul. I shouldn’t have been that surprised, as Abe Anderson is most known for his work in Minneapolis groups like Niiice. and Thank You, I’m Sorry, both of which have no shortage of gorgeous brasswork courtesy of Anderson himself. However, what did come as a surprise is how brilliantly Anderson’s voice stands on its own. Whether it’s the winding wistfulness of the album’s title track or the head-over-heels adoration of “Love You More,” every song on this release possesses the same fuzzy, hazy, dreamlike feel-good quality which makes this record an absolute treat to listen to.

Cicala - Cicala

Acrobat Unstable Records

If bands had commercials, Cicala’s would probably be pretty close to that oft-quoted Reese’s commercial. I can practically hear the dialogue, something along the lines of “Hey, you got your emo in my country!” to which the other party would reply, “You got your country in my emo!” The result wouldn’t be a chocolate-covered peanut-buttery confection, but Cicala. Opening with a jangly guitar and lyrics of a truck stop in Oklahoma, this album blends emo stylings with country licks to an immensely satisfying degree. The album ranges in scale from Red Rocks to a lowly worm, all of which are filtered through Quinn Cicala’s pleasant delivery and emotionally-intelligent perspective. An amber-coated album made for porch beers and mountain excursions.

Cheekface - Emphatically No.

New Professor Music

“Everything is normal,” the three members of Cheekface repeat monotonously at the beginning of “Best Life,” echoing a mantra that most of us have tried to convince ourselves of over the course of the last 365 days. After a brief instrumental interjection and takedown of Portrait mode, lead singer Greg Katz exclaims, “we are writers! creatives! we work remotely!” and I was hooked. Now, I know I’m a straight white guy, and most music is created by people who share those qualities, but it was still striking to hear my recent day-to-day experience reflected so clearly in song form. From there, the track goes on to discuss everything from furiously Juuling to getting a stick-and-poke of a Gucci logo because it’s cheaper than therapy… And that’s just one song. Emphatically No. is a hyper-detailed and charming depiction of a definitively un-charming world, all of which is delivered in a plainspoken style reminiscent of Parquet Courts with lyrics that evoke Stephen Malkmus. It’s a portrait of a very specific place in time from a very specific millennial perspective, but if you identify with any aspect of it, you’re guaranteed to see a piece of yourself reflected here to a remarkable and affirmative degree.

Cathedral Bells - Ether

Spirit Goth Records

When most people think of DIY music, they probably picture four skinny, weed-smoking white dudes tapping on guitars making midwest emo music. That’s certainly a visual that’s easy to call to mind, but it’s not representative of the entire DIY scene… not by a long shot. DIY includes hardcore groups like For Your Health, Gilt, and Hazing Over. It has pop acts like Get Tuff, Jhariah, and Cheem. It covers ska powerhouses like Jer and Grey Matter. It ranges from acoustic bedroom pop like Jungheim and Loser Camp to grungy rock acts like Bombastic Dream Pussy  and Oceanator. There’s shoegaze, punk, lo-fi electropop, and more. In short, it’s unfair to paint the “DIY Scene” as a collective of a few dozen midwest emo groups. Now, with Cathedral Bells, we finally have DIY goth music. Complete with buoyant bass lines, gorgeous reverberating guitar riffs, steady electronic drumming, and far-off shoegazey vocals, Ether is the perfect record for someone in the DIY scene who also happens to love bands like The Cure and New Order. 

Mikau / ps.you’redead - razor x blade

Chilwavve Records

Last year, Mikau unleashed their debut album Phantoma on the world. Upon my first listen, I was instantly transported back a decade to my senior year of high school, where I was listening to nothing but screamo every waking hour, much to the chagrin of those around me. Now, razor x blade sees the group teaming up with Buffalo “danceviolence” band p.s.you’redead for a chaotic 9-minute split that winds from auto-tuned croons to jagged and thrashy pandamonium. It’s a feast for the ears and a nostalgic throwback to anyone who spent hundreds of hours in high school listening to turn-of-the-decade post-hardcore while playing Modern Warfare and downing Mountain Dew.

Shame - Drunk Tank Pink

Dead Oceans

Fitting that this roundup should end with Drunk Tank Pink since Shame’s debut is one of the albums that kicked off my tradition of monthly round-ups all the way back in 2018. For the most part, Drunk Tank Pink finds the band continuing to build their fresh-faced take on post-punk while also pushing at the edges of what the genre can do. Lyrics walk the line between serious and self-deprecating while their deliveries can range from across-the-the-room shouts to poetic dinner-conversation-level monologues. Guitars jangle and strum forward in angular ways as opposed to straightforward riffage. The rhythm section rises and falls with a dynamic range rather than arrow-straight precision. It’s quite literally the perfect sophomore record in that the group didn’t lose anything that made their debut feel so fresh and attention-grabbing, yet they also managed to progress their sound forward in new and exciting artistic directions. 

Quick Hits

Get Tuff - in sickness and hell - Dark DIY electropop that’s as demonic and blood-drenched as it is catchy and 🥺

Tiberius - Lull - One of my biggest surprises of the month, this DIY release helmed by Brendan Wright is evocative of indie rock greats like Broken Social Scene. Read our full review here.

The Sonder Bombs - Clothbound - An album full of deep feelings armed with acerbic lyricism, boppy melodies, and charming amounts of ukelele. Read our full review here.

Portrayal Of Guilt - We Are Always Alone - A violent, ever-rageful, and always-changing sophomore album from one of the most exciting bands in the hardcore scene.

Arlo Park - Collapsed in Sunbeams - A chill, vibey, and lovestruck album that seems designed for laid-back Sunday mornings and wistful afternoons.

Joe Vann - Found in the Smoke - One dash of emo, one pinch of Americana, and a big heaping helping of synthy embellishments, Joe Vann’s surprise-released debut album is a relaxing modern Americana outing.