Today, the Chicago-based duo Hell Trash is sharing with the world their ecstatic new single “Violence”. Hell Trash members, Rowan and Noah Roth have been formative members of the Chicago DIY scene, occupying countless bills, participating in other projects, and continuously finding new ways to share their unique creative voices through different avenues. But with little music released thus far, “Violence” becomes a culmination of time, exposure and spirit as the duo marks a new beginning for Hell Trash at large.

From the get-go, “Violence” is attuned to its unfamiliarity – switching from the often guitar-forward landscapes that they have covered in the past, to amalgamations of electric pianos, horns and an infinitive grove, as the track explodes into horizontal momentum built out from uncharted territory. But as the project becomes more solidified in its ambitions and practices, there is an already well affirmed structure of trust in the directions that Hell Trash choose to follow. Soon the song pushes on; “I make you violent, cause it feels good in your mind”, is a searing line, sung in harmony as the duo almost eggs on the explosive instrumentation that takes the reigns. As “Violence” begins to prove itself, its buoyant complexion becomes entrenched within the distorted grit and darker undertones of the track, embracing a pluralistic approach to making the music that Hell Trash ultimately wants to make. 

About the song, Rowan shares, “I wrote “Violence” at the end of 2021. It was included in the first batch of songs that I brought to Noah when I hired them to engineer and produce a record for me around the same time. Over the course of the next four years, we recorded “Violence” four different times. The first version was an acoustic demo, the second one was based around a Can sample and a vocoder, the third one was basically a straight-ahead alternative rock song, and the fourth version is what we’re putting out into the world. It didn’t end up working until we decided to eschew the guitar as the primary driving force of the song. Instead, we leaned into other sounds that excite us—electric piano, horns, drum machines, etc. Ultimately, making this recording revealed to us that perhaps the most important part of this project’s ethos is the search for a kind of music that sounds new to us.”

Listen to “Violence” here!

You can listen to “Violence” out everywhere now!

Written by Shea Roney | Photo by Jay Leiby