The Trashcan Sinatras have always been one of my favorite groups. Their fantastic debut Cake was released 17 years ago and I can say, truthfully, that I never get tired of it. There's nothing revolutionary or spectacular about the group. Their discography of 4 official album releases is pretty thin compared to industry standards of pumping out at least an album a year (Their 3rd album Happy Pocket was not even released here in the states). Despite the long hiatus' between albums TCS has been able to hold on to a pretty strong fanbase and have released "unofficial" albums over the years through their website. These albums contain live performances and demos with some unreleased and new material sprinkled in the mix just for the fans. They've also been a band that tours regularly, mostly around their native Scotland with some rare performances here in the states.
I've included two mellow TCS tracks here where they're at their best.
"Leave Me Alone (Acoustic Demo)" is from a compilation CD I found on their website. The revamped studio version that later surfaced on the Weighlifting LP is nice but I prefer this stripped down recording.
"Trouble Sleeping" is my favorite track on 2004's Weightlifing. You don't typically hear a TCS tune driven by such heavy drums. And like most of their other songs, I'm still trying to figure out what they're talking about.
