I firmly believe that your tastes should change as you get older. Calcifying your beliefs closes you off to the world around you. Aging should give you a broader range of interests because you’ve experienced more of life. Because you accumulate wisdom with each passing year, you should want to engage with art forms and ideas outside your comfort zone. You should pursue challenging perspectives because it keeps both your mind and body active.
It’s also OK to have a clear idea of the art you like. You should know what hits your pleasure centers and dopamine receptors. It makes sense to have artists, writers, musicians, shows, and films who instill a sense of comfort each time you return to them. It’s the feeling of coming home after a long journey. Sure, you learned a lot in your exploration of new media, but it’s also good to trade those hiking boots for a comfy pair of slippers.
The music of Camp Trash fills me with such sensations.
The Floridian four-piece formulates zippy, crispy pop-punk of the highest order on their debut album. Released on Count Your Lucky Stars, The Long Way, The Slow Way nails the sounds of third-wave emo with sublime ease. This twelve-song effort expands the borders of the quartet’s 2021 Downtiming EP with authority and substance. Though Saves the Day, Get Up Kids, and Brand New are obvious points of comparison, the band delivers vintage feels that deftly avoids any hint of copycat vibes.
The lead vocals enthrall me right off the bat. Their blissfully laconic energy put you at ease while actively drawing you into the story they have to tell. When paired with the urgent tones of the background gang vocals, the overall effect brings you right to the front of the stage at a sweaty community center show.
I also found the guitar work to be quite impressive.
The rhythm guitar provided the sort of solid chugging effect you expect from punk tunes. However, the swinging, surf-inflected melody lines of the chiming lead guitar work offered fresh, tasty textures. Holding it all down, the deft drumming deftly guides the songs through their various grooves, shifts, stops, and starts. Overall, the rhythm section delivers a bright and healthy brashness that gives the group a firm foundation for its stylistic risks.
“Pursuit” immediately conjures up memories of nervously driving around talking to yourself. The lyrics veritably drip with the anxiety of wondering about the next steps in your life. On “Weird Florida,” we hear a pitch-perfect tune about the sort of summertime malaise that’s endemic to adolescence. It’s also a righteous compliment to the gif of Bugs Bunny cutting off the state of Florida from the rest of the United States.
“Enough Explaining” delivers a humorous rejection of the songwriter’s own mansplaining tendencies, complete with references to reading Jack Kerouac and Cormac McCarthy. With “Soft,” a jaunty melody and breezy energy get juxtaposed to self-critical lyrics about the negative consequences of hardening one’s heart.
Closing the album with a bang, “Feel Something” fuses Hold Steady-esque organ swells with big emotional crescendos. It also delivers what could be album’s thesis statement about growing up and building community:
“The moment you feel inspired is the moment I feel something, too.”
The Long Way, The Slow Way is a pristine distillation of catchy punky emo.
It’s also very much an album of 20-something angst, but it views those emotions through the rearview mirror. Camp Trash filters their penchant for profound self-reflection and witty self-deprecation through layers and layers of sharp and hooky music. The band definitely gives you plenty of pissed-off attitude, but the guys also don’t wallow in their feelings. Instead, they reflect on their actions and the related consequences while also considering how they should do better in the future.
The result is a thoughtful, well-balanced project that combines youthful vigor, evolving perspectives, and ample energy. It’s a testament to the power of embracing your feelings in their multifaceted complexity. Growing up doesn’t mean giving up on your dreams, but it might mean embracing emotional maturity.