Trash Bats have come to save your soul. Right from the beginning there is a feel of what a Trash Bats live show would be; intimate, involved crowd, cheers, and singing along.
“The Brotherhood” sets a mood moving into the rest of the album. Trash Bats vocalist Father Dawn belts out Horror Punk style deepness, but with a heavy dose of traditional folk. “Gallows” is a constant clap-along folk driven story of a song that leads into “Faith” seamlessly. The use of audio clips from TV and film give the feel that the use of several of these song as a film score would be a great fit. A perfect highlight of this would be “The Path Of The Righteous” is wholeheartedly a cowboy song. Drifting along the plains, head hung low, mournful, full of sorrow; it is easy to see this playing in a scene of a Western Horror film, thunder cracking as the solo plays. The mixing by Thunder City Sound Design does a great job of maintaining the somber mood with “The Coffin Baby” as a follow up. While keeping the western/folk sound “The Coffin Baby” is darker, bleaker, but also perfect for a film score. A bluesy guitar solo played over folk acoustic rhythms is at first unexpected, but after several listens it just punches the story home.
“Do No Evil” is a steady, freight train of a song, with another unexpected aspect in its strings arrangement hauntingly playing over. “Wait ’til Tomorrow” is the albums heaviest song, with quick strumming and growls. Feels like the whole band, and then some are belting out the lyrics. Definitely a headbanger of a song. “Rattlin’ Souls” has some of the most soulful guitar playing of not only this album, but of many of this genre. The absolute horror imagery of the story being told in the lyrics, is something that would make a great short film on its own.
Like several of the previous songs, the closer “Killer On The Road” gives great insight to a what a live show would be. Just as it is the album closer, it could be a show closer as well. it is easy to imagine this playing while little conversations and laughter happen in the crowd, glasses and bottles clank together. But, that is not to take away from the content of the song. “Killer On The Road’ is the albums most outright country song, that tells a dark story of redemption.
“Trash Bats” features a bonus track titled “Oh, I have Seen” that is as dark folk as a song can be. There is a haunting harmonic group vocal for the chorus, that hooks itself into your mind and stays there for days between listens. It is an excellent extra to an already solid album.
“Trash Bats” will be available on July 5th, 2019 via Bandcamp for digital download for free, and from Ukulele Horror Records on CD for $5.00.
