Artist: Various Artists
Title: “Mama Trash Family Vol. 1”
Label: Independant
Release Date:
Genre: Gothic Hard Rock & Roll
Rating: 3.5/5

I’m not one who would really review an independent compilation CD but when I heard that Mama Trash would be issuing one to showcase a number of bands that she believed in I would definitely find the time to make an exception from this rule. So just who is Mama Trash, and why should the world listen to who she thinks are some bands that the world at large should be paying attention to? Very simply put – Mama Trash is someone who makes sure that she gets involved in the lives of the bands that she enjoys and via various promotional adventures both online and off she has built up a strong legion of believers and fans for these groups and herself. It was through these adventures that a mere mortal music fan named Jo Sheldon became the one and only Mama Trash. My own interaction with her had been at shows that The 69 Eyes were first doing in the US and since then there has been nothing but positive dealings. One has to admire the drive and interest that a person shows when they choose to release a very loaded CD such as this one. One can only hope that through this the very same bands that you enjoy yourself will reach new levels of success and exposure based on its existence. It is a gamble, but what facets of the music business aren’t these days. Let’s talk about the CD.

There are a number of killer tracks on this CD and I personally enjoyed the chance to learn about some bands from it myself. I was immediately knocked over by Maryslim, who had that old style New York Punk attitude to them. The Gothic hunger would be fed by both OperaNoire and The Deathstars when it came down to it and I realized that there was some solid potential in the band Violent Divine as well. OperaNoire reminded me a little of Type-O-Negative and The 69 Eyes, so it was easy to find myself digging this track of theirs. These are groups that I am definitely going to seek out more music from and even hope to catch in the live sense sometime soon. NY’s own Trashlight Vision makes an appearance and offers up a track from their recently issued debut album. It’s a rocking street Punk demonstration that I think fits in perfectly on the compilation as well. There are also three inclusions by bands that might not be as much of a mystery to most music fans and these come care of The 69 Eyes, Apocalyptica and Mortiis. T69E have been increasing their levels of musical momentum since their entire catalog was made available in the States in 2006 and the group just recently completed their third touring schedule here in two years time. They show no signs of stopping anytime soon Goth bless ‘em. Apocalyptica is the band that fans of a more classically tasting vibe of Metal would enjoy based on their being four cellists and Mortiis, while not my favorite of the bunch, definitely brings an Industrial edge to the release. These three bands offer the listener a chance to have something that they might be a little more familiar with as they take chances on these other groups who will all leave them curious and wanting more information. The CD includes no real liner notes, but does offer up the band websites and contact information. I would have enjoyed a few more pictures but these independent things are not too cheap and with Internet at everyone’s disposal they are unnecessary. You can get your own copy of this CD via Mama Trash’s website exclusively, and its nice and reasonable in terms of price so take a chance on some really cool music. You will be glad that you did.

Song Listing:
1. A Perfect Mess – Maryslim
2. Levitate – Violent Divine
3. Angels – The 69 Eyes
4. Power And Need – Sonic Roots
5. Zeitgeist – Mortiis
6. Virtue To Vice – Deathstars
7. Dead Waves On The Air – Trashlight Vision
8. City Basements – Program The Dead
9. Broken Promised Land – Private Line
10. Cold Blood – Stereo Junks
11. No One – Opera Noire
12. Chemical Rabbit – Sexdeath
13. Come Over – Raw Generation Superstars
14. Spinning – Marazine
15. Road To Nowhere – Zankoma
16. Un Hombre Sin Rostro, Pistolero – Gypsy Pistoleros
17. Somewhere Around Nothing – Apocalyptica

Official Web site: www.mamatrash.com