I’m sure Trash Boat used to be heavier. Or perhaps I’ve just got muddled mentally, as there was a whole heap of face-melting metal going on when I saw them supporting While She Sleeps back in early 2019. But either way, what they’ve served up on this latest record, ‘Don’t You Feel Amazing?’, is spot on. 

The album kicks off with the explosive title track, which has this sort of enviable, bragging dialogue about how incredible it feels to fulfil a fantasy in reality. Whether there’s an obscenity to it or not, it’s got an enjoyable arrogance that almost makes you want to be part of the chest-puffing scenario. It’s super-slick indeed. But it is, of course, about mind-altering substances, so they’re demonstrating that the theme comes at a price.

Shredding riffs then come steamrolling in on ‘Silence Is Golden’ — probably a solid example of why I had Trash Boat pegged as a must brasher outfit. But what’s so ace about this full 13-tracker is that you get these really feisty, almost cheeky, catchy offerings as well. It makes it a fun but can’t-turn-off listen — the sort of alt rock that ticks box after box. ‘Bad Entertainment (feat. Milkie Way)’ nails that brief again, and even scatters a female-vocal verse into the mixing bowl. 

You should be au fait with ‘He’s So Good’ already. This pacy number remains a ripper and leads into the thrashing middle section of the album nicely. The distorted, ultra-scuzzy ‘Vertigo’ is ferocious. There’s no such thing as a half measure here, as lashings of raucous riffs and thudding drums hammer at your ears. ‘Idios’ is similar in its approach, too. 

Fan of rock that dabbles in electronics? There’s some deft experimentation to ‘Alpha Omega (feat. Kamiyada+)’ and ‘Maladaptive Daydreaming’, so you can bop along to the drum and bass elements. And if you’re into your more wistful chord progressions (I’ll raise my arm there), ‘Cannibal’ has that old-school emo styling to it, before it fades into the interlude/extension, ‘Live Like A King, Die Like An Animal’. Further still, on the off chance that the diverse sounds of this album weren’t already enough, ‘Synthetic Sympathy’ is the penultimate piece and dazzles with its pop-punk persuasion. 

If you only download one track, let it be: ‘Cannibal’ (But it’s chock-full of other treats)