WHITE TRASH "White Trash " (1991)
by Dana Brittingham

Booklet: 9 Spit Valves out of 10
… a 14.1" x 14.1" poster! It’s a full caricature of all 7 guys in the band, hanging out with chicks, blowing horns, downing beer bongs, spraying graffiti, downing vodka while riding skateboards, chasing cats with motorcycles, and all sorts of cartoon violence and debauchery. I love it. Credits must go out to the artist -- none other than Jack Davis, probably best known for his 30-year stint on the art staff of MAD Magazine, but who’s also credited with being the most famous horror comic book illustrator in America. You may have seen his work on the covers of TV Guide or Time Magazine over the years. Whether or not you know who he is, the artwork for this CD booklet is well worth checking out. On the reverse of the comic poster there’s a balck and white band member photo (taking up 4 of the 9 available panels), individual band member shots, and only 2 panes dedicated to track listing, production notes, and thanks. There’s no lyrics included, but with everything else there is to look at, I think I can let it slide.

Songs: 7 Tubes of Slide Cream out of 10
I remember my first exposure to the band White Trash: The video for “Apple Pie” entered into heavy rotation at MTV, thanks to the programmers including it in the “Buzz Bin,” so it was played over and over again for a few weeks in 1991. “Apple Pie,” being the opening track on the band’s self-titled major label debut, was a catchy rock song, not completely different from the hard rock bands at the time, except they had a horn section, which separated this band from all the other early 90’s hair bands. I dug it, and went out and bought the disc. If I recall correctly, I felt a little disappointed at the rest of the CD – not that it was terrible, but I didn’t feel the tunes measured up to the standard that “Apple Pie” set forth. So the CD got put into a box with a bunch of other CDs I rarely listened to, and there it sat for well over a decade. Fast forward to the present day, where I happened to find the box of old CDs and thought I’d give White Trash another listen. Maybe my tastes have matured, coupled with the fact that I now feel White Trash was waaaaaay ahead of its time, but this disc was well worth digging out. The obvious comparison of singer Dave Alvin’s voice is to Mark Slaughter – they sound a lot alike, though cat-in-a-blender factor isn’t nearly as prevalent (but almost) – with perhaps a bit of Faith No More’s Mike Patton thrown in. Shrill yet bluesy vocals. The band is tight, and the bluesy riffs (and occasional harmonica) aren’t all that unlike something Aerosmith might have done back in the day. The slap bass and the phenomenal drumming give White Trash an over-the-top funky feel, and the addition of the “Badass Brass” horn section (2 saxophonists and a trumpeter) complete a definitive Ska meets hard rock sound. Aside from the opener, tracks to check out include “Backstage Pass,” “Good God,” “Prayer B4 Pizza,” “Buzz!” and “The Crawl,” the latter having been used for the intro to Jon Stewart’s show back when he was on MTV.

Comments: There’s no doubt this disc was years ahead of its time. With a pre-Ska sound that wouldn’t become en vogue until later in the decade, White Trash had the funky blues rock thing down to a T. Exceptionally unique for the early nineties, it’s surprising these guys didn’t take off and become bigger than they were. There was a follow-up album, released in 1994 (entitled ¿Si O Si, Que?) but the Badass Brass horn section was gone, as was every musician that played on the 1991 CD… except for vocalist Dave Alvin, who continued on with a completely new band playing under the name White Trash. (The rest of the band reportedly regrouped with a different singer and called themselves 'Hash,' but that never quite took off either.) While moderately received in the midst of the alt-rock/grunge musical climate, sales of ¿Si O Si, Que? were more than disappointing, and that was that for Dave Alvin and White Trash.