Nashville, TN · Rock
The title for Trash Man’s new EP, Direct Cremation, came from spotting a particularly bleak roadsign advertising a quick way to send someone off for $975. The pricetag feeling more reasonable than next month's rent: a one-time fee undercutting a bill you pay forever. A pipeline of capitalism, straight to the grave. “I might think about the inevitability of death more than some other people do. It’s not the most healthy way to be, but no one is getting out alive, so everything that we do while we are here is precious and important,” reflects Alex Mojaverian (aka Trash Man). He’s not morbid, exactly, but genuine unease of looming death sometimes feels a little too haunting when you spot it on your drive home from work. That tension manifested clearly in the new EP. Mojaverian channels that unease through big hooks and buoyant rock anthems, captured expertly by returning producer Dave Lawson. Having 2025’s Cool Until It’s Not behind them, the duo captured the entire EP in one weekend with plenty of flair and polish, including contributions from Z. Swann and Dan Zimmerman. Where the original sessions ran on adrenaline and hope, this one ran on confidence: both of them already knew it would work. Direct Cremation delivers a deft balancing act between pondering the doomscroll-news-cycle (“Everything Happens all the Time”) and sweeter domestic meditations on watching someone change over a decade’s time (“Ten Years”). Spanning this emotional spectrum captures the push-and-pull in Mojaverian’s head; there are many good moments to enjoy before your direct cremation inevitably comes, at a pretty reasonable price.
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