Record of the Week: THE TRASHIES Teenage Rattlesnakes LP
In 1917 Marcel Duchamp presented an unassuming object to an exhibition and declared it “high art.” The urinal he submitted, titled “Fountain” (and now seen as a major landmark of 20th century art) was initially dismissed as trash and removed. On Teenage Rattlesnakes the TRASHIES explore the lineage of Duchamp (not explicitly) and reinterpret the notion of “trash as art.” Teenage Rattlesnakes is the sound of the TRASHIES deviating from the more straightforward and upbeat new wave, white trash, celebratory, satirical anthems of “Taz Tattoo” or “I’m High, So What” toward the art damaged no-rock swagger of UZI RASH (with which this band shares members) and finds a middle ground between catchy garage new wave and art damage. The band also further distances itself from music that is at first listen, immediately evocative of the SPITS. What you have here is a more mature, thoughtful progression down a trip to the dump in which the blue tarp has been thematically replaced by songs about (among other things) various means of trash and bug consumption. While they’ve chosen to mine this new found art-gunk territory they still excel at writing songs that are catchy and conventionally accessible, but which sound unconventional and unique. The dub sound explored in Space Jam reappears on this outing in the form of the autobiographically rich “I Ate the Trash” and is perhaps the most accessible and fun song on the album. Teenage Rattlesnakes firmly reinforces the notion that trash, in the hands of the right people, becomes compelling. (1-2-3-4 Go!)
