Trash Fashion - Barfly, Camden Live Review

Review of Trash Fashion live at the Barfly, Camden on 14th March 09.

The now London based four piece unleashed the Trash Fashion experience on Camden Barfly and were a refreshing change. None of this try-hard business, their raw talent is effortless. They don't seem to take themselves too seriously; some of the lyrics may be wry and tongue in cheek but they clearly know how to structure a great song. Their music is a cleverly layered combination of dance, electro-punk and rock.

Front man Jet Storm has it sussed. He has the look - bowler hat, skinny jeans, flashes of underwear and skin as he leaps around the stage, engaging the crowd at every opportunity. And Trash Fashion are all about playing live; the visuals, the energy, the music and the atmosphere they create all making for a memorable performance.

They opened with You Were The One, the first of four new tracks and one which captures their sound perfectly and instantly makes you sit up and listen. This was followed by previous single, Beat Goes Round; a brilliantly catchy electro-pop tune that got the crowd moving. Mid set they threw in a great cover of Hall and Oates' I Can't Go For That, bringing the 1981 hit bang up to date with a definite Trash Fashion twist, and performing it as if it were written for them.

Unfortunately do to venue timings their set was cut short, much to the disappointment of the crowd and the band alike. So they did what they do best and got people dancing by belting out Night Of Error, the (nearly) title track from their debut album and then finished with the anthemic Why Can't We Be Friends, by which time the floor was moving - surely a good sign!

I am assured that the band has a plenty more new material up their sleeves and if it's anything like what they played tonight; it will be well worth a look. It was a real shame we didn't get to hear more of it but on the positive side, it's the perfect excuse to go to their next gig! If you love good music and love to dance, go and see Trash Fashion, they won't disappoint.

Robyn Burrows