Two years on, Trash Boat’s second album, Crown Shyness, released in the summer of 2018, has helped consolidate the band’s place at the forefront of UK scene. The album reached no. 2 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart and was welcomed as a breath of fresh air by a press who, at the time, had become a little weary of the ‘pop-punk’ monicker. Music site DistortedSoundMag.com wrote:
“It really is nice to hear a pop punk album that sounds like it was recorded by actual people rather than a lead singer and someone with a panel of filters, effects and algorithms.”
AlreadyHeard.com also heralded the work as a significant landmark in the movement:
“To put it simply, ‘Crown Shyness’ is the best step forward that the pop-punk scene has seen in a long time.”
The demos for the album were all recorded using Ryan’s Aston Origin and the mic still forms part of his core recording kit:
“My day to day setup consists on Yamaha HS7’S, Focusrite Liquid Saffire, Kemper and an Aston Origin.” He told us. “At the moment for vocals I’m using the Aston Origin straight into my interface, everything else is done in the box!”
Ryan has found the Aston Halo reflection filter and portable vocal booth just as important a part of his set-up for capturing smooth and consistent vocals:
“For me, the HALO has just changed the way I can record vocals. Its isolates them so perfectly and helps with getting that really tight in your face vocal that everyone is searching for.”