New England quartet Alley Trash have been bringing their vicious and self-described “regressive metalcore" to audiences since forming in 2018. In that time, they have remained staunchly DIY, recording and releasing all their record themselves, booking and touring all on their own dollar, and remaining true the whole way. In this day and age, it’s still one of the hardest and most stressful feats to achieve in the music scene but they’ve stuck it out, kicking and screaming the whole way in their 5-year existence.
For some history and context, Alley Trash's 2019 debut EP, Cement Waits For No Man, featured tongue-in-cheek song titles like “Try Getting a Reservation at Dorsia Now” and “Panama Jackoff” showed that they don’t take themselves seriously but are dead serious about their music. They followed that up with 2021's New Failures EP. From a presentation standpoint, Alley Trash brought choppy guitars that sounded like chainsaws hacking away at a swamp and vicious vocal deliveries by Evan.
That all led to 2022’s Foul, a 7-track collection that maintained Alley Trash's independence throughout every endeavor they’ve gone into. Whenever it came time to record, the band tracked everything in their own space which mostly took place in guitarist Jacob’s house. Although they had success booking their own tours across the East Coast and local gigs around New England, Alley Trash struggled to maintain a bassist. “We’ve had seven bass players,” admits Jacob. It finally took its toll on all the members and Alley Trash called it quits in 2022.
Last year, Alley Trash returned via a headlining turn at Arsen Fest in August. The show was dedicated to the memory of Trauma Kit guitarist Arsen Faniko who passed away in 2021 and was a dedicated member of the Central Mass hardcore scene.
While the band had only been on hiatus for about 6 months, their absence left a massive hole in the scene which many members of the New England heavy music community noted, especially its younger members. I’ve always noted that the Central Mass scene in the last couple years had a much more youthful energy as many of its members were teenagers and young adults flocking to see bands such as Wisdom& War, Hard Target, and Shortest Life. Plus, Alley Trash provided a unique sound amongst an already distinct music scene.
To mark their return to recording, Alley Trash just released their newest single, “Instant Regret,” and they marked the occasion with a music video. The clip was recorded by Kristi Xhelili and features the band playing in a bedroom with vocalist Evan frantically clamoring at these glowing TV screens set up across from him. Of course, the plotline is ambiguous, it’s a metalcore video:
Talking about their current plans for 2024, Alley Trash vocalist Evan stated: “We're releasing this song and another one called 'Life of Prizes,' through War Against Records, then heading out on tour next week March 1-10 with our friends in Silenus and Jackal starting at The Vault in New Bedford. We'll have tapes of this release with us on the road as well as pre-orders available through the War Against webstore, then we're playing a smattering of other shows throughout this first half of the year including New Hampshire Hardcore Fest June 28th in Littleton, New Hampshire.”
It’s reassuring knowing a band like Alley Trash is back ripping it up in the New England area because bands with their spirit and desire for fun are always refreshing. Their sound and energy never ceases to incite havoc both onstage and off and younger kids are always attracted to them for this simple fact. While the future is never set in stone you can bet that Alley Trash are going to keep finding ways to pop up on everyone’s radar so be on the lookout for any announcements from them and blast their music out of the shittiest speakers you can find.
Alley Trash would like to shout out: our guitarist and producer Jake at Stackhouse in Rhode Island who recorded and wrote most of this besides the lyrics. Go record with our boy. He's done all of our stuff and it sounds aces. Shouts out to Sophisticated Adult, Jackal, Gumskab, Multiple Penises, Louzy, Hate Lord, Silenus, again Kristi and Clock Out, Ryan at War Against Records, Olneyville System, and Mariah Carey.
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Alley Trash on social media: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
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