Trash City Rockers: Switchblade Serenade

CD: Switchblade Serenade

by M. Alberto Rivera

Switchblade Serenade is a great distraction. Whatever ills and worries you may have been mulling over when you put this on will either disappear or intensify. A high energy CD with 12 songs about everyday irritation and frustrations, the Trash City Rockers are angry young men with a lot to say about their lives and how they’re living, “Gimme something to kill for/Gimme Something to die for/I’m beginning to lose faith in everything.” The song Piracy rails against a world that’s unfair at every turn.

But TCR are at their best when they sing about ordinary struggles, on Lonely Boys and Girls and their unbelievably catchy Can’t Won’t Don’t Wanna. Singer Ronny offers his thoughts on getting up to go to work “Don’t wanna pull a Nine to Five/and still struggle to survive.” This song should be in heavy rotation on college stations everywhere. At first glance it’s a slacker anthem, but there’s more at play here. The unwillingness to commit to what’s expected simply because it’s expected is the root problem here.

With a gravelly voice reminiscent of Tim Armstrong of Rancid, and a sound that brings to mind ‘77 era Clash tweaked on 21st Century angst and too many Red Bulls, Trash City Rockers bring catchy melodies and taut rhythms to an overworked art form.

Catch up with Trash City Rockers on any of the following:

Official Site

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