Eyes & Nines

September 1st, 2010

Formats: CD, MP3

Catalog no.: TTC007

Release Date: June 21, 2010

Trash Talk is a four piece hardcore band formed in Sacramento, California in 2005. Released through their own Trash Talk Collective record label, Eyes & Nines is the group’s third studio album. Throughout Eyes & Nines vocalist Lee Spielman, drummer Sam Bosson, bassist Spencer Pollard, and guitarist Garret Stephenson present a soundscape that is dark, aggressive, and abstract, but always accessible and engaging.

The album opens with “Vultures,” which clocks in at a power packed 58 seconds, giving the listeners a taste of what is to come. “Vultures” is followed by “Flesh & Blood,” arguably the album’s strongest track. The song’s elaborate lyrics allow Spielman to present the depths of his captivating and inciting vocals. The anarchic “Explode” is another great song that features dynamic work by Bosson and Stephenson. Breaking up the hardcore formula and closing out the first half of the album is the sludgy, metal detour, “Hash Wednesday.”

While the second half of the album picks up with the redundant and unremarkable “Envy” it is immediately followed by the solid “Rabbit Holes.” After the all too brief “I Do” is “Trudge,” which has a punishing but pleasurable energy. Closing out the album are the metal-tinged “On a Fix” and “Eyes & Nines,” the album’s most accessible song.

Though a studio recording, Trash Talk’s Eyes & Nines has a certain live, under-produced quality that adds to its appeal. The album lasts only 17 minutes, but it is fraught with so much energy and emotion that listeners are left exhausted at its conclusion. Eyes & Nines is an excellent album and a must have for any hardcore fan.

Reviewed by Langston Collin Wilkins

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Review Genre(s): Popular, Rock, and Misc.