Thousand Islands Records – 05 Jan 2021
For those who like ’em snarky
The Canadian punks of Trashed Ambulance have kicked off 2021 with a new release. Their new EP Leapfrog only contains three new songs, but it’s a good introduction for those who are unfamiliar with the band.
Trashed Ambulance is a band for people who like their skatepunk extra snarky. Their main vocalist sings every syllable with a combination of sarcasm and anger that might be off-putting to some, especially because it’s out-of-tune a lot. Example given: “On The Mend” the lead track on the LP. But out-of-tune singing can serve a song and Trashed Ambulance has based a lot their sound on this. It’s out-of-tune, but in a good way. The band also manages to incorporate some sweet vocal harmonies and great melodies on the title track “Leapfrog,” which is sung by another band member. I couldn’t find out which band member sings each song and the internet didn’t gave me an answer.
I stumbled upon Trashed Ambulance a few years ago when I came across their song “Dogs Chase Cars.” That song and video sparked my interest in the band and I was very charmed by the (again) snarky vocals and the crazy-ass basslines. Those bass lines were everywhere on their 2018 LP Flashes of Competence and ,unfortunately, these bass lines are mostly absent on the EP. I read in Trashed Ambulance’s short biography that they had quite a few line-up changes and maybe they changed bass players. I tried again to find some information on this but the internet failed me again.
With only three songs, the Leapfrog EP is over before you know it. But the internet helped me once again by lining up their other excellent releases Shorthanded and the aforementioned Flashes Of Competence. That made for a nice evening which I can recommend to everyone.
(editor- the band has confirmed it is actually the same vocalist for all songs)
Quirijn’s primary focus for TGEFM is on album reviews and band interviews. When he’s not writing for the site, he can be found mixing sound at Fiction Studio, mixing up beats for as one part of hip-hop duo Breekpunt, or playing guitar for punk quartet Ink Bomb.