This review is part of a series looking back at significant albums on their anniversaries. Through the benefit of hindsight we will be viewing the album not just as it was released, but how it stands the test of time, as well as its place in the band’s discography and the genre in general.
Fat Wreck Chords – 04 Jan 1993
My entry point to one of my favorite all-time bands.
While there are definitely members of the fan base who were with Lagwagon before Trashed, I think it is safe to say that a lot of us came in at this point or after. For my part, it wasn’t too long after Trashed was released that I found the band and, once again, like a lot of us, it was actually through the free label sampler Fat Music For Fat People. It was during NOFX‘s fall 1994 tour and, specifically, their stop at The Fireside Bowl in Chicago that they were handing this CD out at the door.
Once we had a chance to listen to it, It was great! SO many bands I’d never heard of before. My two faves from the album were Bracket (“2RAK005” still stands as one of the best songs ever), and Lagwagon. Next chance we got we headed into Chicago and picked up some more CDs of bands on the comp. All the shop had for Lagwagon was Trashed. Having just been released earlier that year, it makes sense this would be in stock over their debut LP Duh. On this trip we made sure we were in a car that had a cassette adapter for the portable CD player (holy shit, I can’t believe I wrote that), so we were able to fire up the music right away. And, boy oh boy… from the opening chords of “Island of Shame”…
Here’s the thing: I hope that music fans of all stripes get to experience this, but in our little corner of the NW Chicago suburbs, I’d like to think that our community was a bit more accepting of all types of alternative music. It wouldn’t have been out of place for us to listen to Minor Threat, They Might Be Giants, Digable Planets, D.R.I., and more one after the other. Levellers one second, Dayglo Abortions the next. Just genre-hopping all over the place, and this was just the nature of our community. But, for me, punk… especially thrashy punk, was top of the list. And Trashed is one of the best examples of thrashy skatepunk out there. Sure, the production values may sound a bit bare and hollow after 30 years of improved technologies making it easier and easier to record great-sounding music, but you can’t deny that this album is played well. For a while it was also probably the most metal-tinged of all Lagwagon albums, as the follow-up Hoss definitely saw the band go in a much more melodic-punk direction.
This doesn’t mean that Trashed isn’t punk. But, and despite what they look like on the cover, there’s definitely a lot of hair farming going on, if you catch my drift. Great technical guitars, screaming solos, and of course the late, great Derrick Plourde at the top of his game on percussion. The album is fast and furious, taking on serious subjects while also expressing their humorous side at times.
As mentioned above, after this album the band would venture more into the melodic punk side of things. After Hoss guitarist Shawn Dewey would leave the band and Plourde would be kicked out. The subsequent release Double Plaidinum would feature a new lineup with RKL‘s Dave Raun on percussion to this day, and the temporary The Posies‘ Ken Stringfellow joining for DP only (I remember the headline “A Posie in Lagwagon?!?” from some publication), before being replaced RKL‘s Chris Rest (again, to this day). This would be a kind of renewal for Lagwagon. They would of course play songs from the Dewey/Plourde era, but newer tracks would better reflect the styles and sensibilities of the new lineup. While Lagwagon would eventually work their way back around to some of more thrashy sounds, notably on Hang and Railer, it would take a while, leaving 1993’s Trashed as their most metal-sounding LP for over two decades.
One reason Lagwagon stands as one of my favorite bands is partly because of that renewal or, more to the point, what it represents as a whole for the band and their willingness to embrace changing styles while still being fresh and exciting (my one dislike being 2008’s I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon… for some reason I just really don’t like that release).
I think another point is the longevity of the music. Trashed still holds up to this day, maybe not production-wise (although some hardworking but cash-strapped bands have put out albums of similar recording and production quality), but compositionally and musically. I still feel the same sense of excitement and energy from “Rust,” “Whipping Boy,” and “Bye For Now” as I did when I first heard them almost 30 years ago.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
