Trash Boat: Lock In Acoustic

New Noise Magazine are premièring a new acoustic video from Trash Boat. The video is an acoustic version of their song 'Lock In' from their first EP 'Look Alive'. Check it out below:

Trash Boat - Look Alive - Artwork Feature

Though only officially founded at the start of 2014, pop-punk quintet Trash Boat have already played their first shows and recorded their debut E.P, ‘Look Alive’, which just saw release on 23rd June. Bursting with buoyant guitar licks and the kind of vocal melodies you only need to hear once before they’re imprinted on your temporal lobe, ‘Look Alive’ is a formidable first strike from Trash Boat’s arsenal. Drummer Oakley takes us through the design process for 

their iconic cover… 

“The artwork took quite a bit of time to come together, but I think it turned out for the best as a 
result. The initial design involved just the kneeling character, which was done by Natas Designs who has worked with the likes of Gnarwolves. We basically all loved his work and just gave him creative reign to do what he wanted, inspired purely by giving him our band and EP name. He killed it, for the name 'Look Alive' it just fitted perfectly. However, we felt it needed something else to get away from a boring vanilla background. After a photo shoot with Snooty Fox Images, we got the reference sheet for the background for the EP cover. It fitted really nicely and was what we thought was missing from the original design. I ended up putting everything together, very organically, we couldn't be happier.”

Download Look Alive on Bandcamp here.

You can also check out our review of Look Alive here.

Trash Boat - Look Alive Review

Trash Boat have only officially been a band since the beginning of 2014 but from listening to Look Alive, you would never have guessed it. As Trash Boat's first musical endeavor, the EP shows no hint of weakness and is an impressive mixture of memorable melodies, youthful affirmations and an abundance of energy; the perfect musical accessory for summer. 
Cluttered Sign is an absorbing opener to the EP. The opening riff is a gentle start but the pace soon picks up and it turns into a compelling track about past experiences affecting us in the present moment.
The second track Boneless is an impressive profusion of youthful energy with a striking chorus. The track talks about past experiences, specifically illness, and how it can make us who we are today (for more information behind the meaning behind the songs click here).
Gnarmalade is the most aggressive song on the EP, with a fast paced beat and raw vocals. The song could easily be a an extra track from Set Your Goal's This will be the Death of Us or Sum 41's Chuck. 
The last track Lock In shows no fault throughout, from the verse to the chorus the song is monumental in every way. The song starts as a melodic outset and becomes an expeditious incursion of energy that provides an infallible close to the album. 
Overall, Trash Boat's EP is an impressive first release, especially as they have officially been a band since the start of the year. If you're a fan of Major League or ROAM this EP is definitely for you. Make sure you pick up a copy on June 23rd or download Boneless for free on Trash Boat's bandcamp.  

Trash Boat - Look Alive - Track by Track Guide

Though only officially founded at the start of 2014, pop-punk quintet Trash Boat have already played their first shows and recorded their debut E.P, ‘Look Alive’, which is set for release 23rd June. Bursting with buoyant guitar licks and the kind of vocal melodies you only need to hear once before they’re imprinted on your temporal lobe, ‘Look Alive’ is a formidable first strike from Trash Boat’s arsenal. Here vocalist Tobi gives us some insight into the creation of the EP… 

'Most of the writing for the EP tracks took place in Oak’s room, we’d play around with riffs, record them on his computer and generally spend hours doing trial and error to see what sounded good. When we all went home or to work we would still be sending each other ideas we recorded on our phones and ideas for the vocals. 

Every song was pretty slow to begin with, trying stuff out, binning it, repeat etc, refining it each step of the way. But once we had an idea we thought was solid for each song, it was really fun to build on and stuff started to flow. We spent a good few months ironing out creases and changing bits here and there, but once we were happy we booked our time at the Ranch House Studio and went down there to stay for the week. We smashed it out, had a cool time and we’re really pleased with how it has turned out. 

Cluttered and Boneless are very similar, they use the same base when it comes to theme I just went in two different directions with it. ‘Boneless’ is very blunt and honest, it’s an insight into the previous few years of my life in which I had faced some drastic lifestyle changes due to a lot of knee surgery, stuff got pretty bleak pretty fast. I met the guys in Trash Boat right about the time I started to get my shit together and it was really fun to write about it all. The lyrics to boneless are pretty bleak but I’m not in a bad place, that’s the point of the song, I’ve grown from that and can now look back and appreciate that those experiences are why I am who I am today. 

Cluttered uses similar elements, but it’s less macroscopic than Boneless, Boneless looks back at those experiences over the entire period, Cluttered is how they were effecting me in the present moment and influencing my song writing. Gnarmalade is my favourite track ‘cos it’s got the most energy. The lyrics came from a part of me that changed during the recovery periods; I was bedridden for a period and started boning up on social issues, activisms and the like. Everyone always has a really detailed opinion on stuff like that so I won’t go really deep into it, but it was great to be able to put that time to positive use. Gnarmalade (lyrically and musically) is the first of many similar Trash Boat tunes. 

Lock in is written about an old friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in ages, he called me up one night and asked me for a lift to a mates house which I thought was weird but he seemed in a bit of a state so I said yes. Unfortunately life wasn’t going great for him and his family and friends weren’t doing him a lot of good. It made me think about how lucky I am to have such a cool group of friends and supportive family around me, most likely the main reason I’m doing so well today and able to reflect on things with a clear and happy head. 

Playing this EP live is what it’s all about, and I can’t think of anything more fun, we get a really good crowd participation thing going, with Boneless especially. I can’t wait to take it on tour and play to as many people as possible.'

Listen to Boneless: 

Trash Boat ‘Look Alive’ released 23rd June 

Go give Trash Boat a Facebook like here.