Trash Signal started with the serendipitous introduction of Lishie Comiskey (Comiskey Players, Brennan’s Revenge) and Dave Yarwood (No Love, Exit Mice) by a mutual friend at an outdoor karaoke event. The two got to talking and realized that they shared a lot of musical influences, and before long, synth punk demos were flying back and forth between their apartments in Durham and Chapel Hill.

In 2022, the duo released their first two singles, "The Palms" and "I Should Be Asleep", featuring Yarwood on synthesizer, guitars and drum programming and Comiskey on bass and vocals.

After months of searching for like-minded synth punk advocates, the live version of Trash Signal coalesced in 2023, with Yarwood taking over drum duties, Portland transplant Clay Staley (Agents of E.C.C.O) issuing frenetic, jazz-infused guitar lines, and Oxford, Mississippi's own Capel Howorth (Plainer, Penny Peach) dual-wielding guitar and synth. Meanwhile, Comiskey drops basslines as melodic as they are thunderous, while delivering Pylon-esque vocals steeped in the ferocity of Lost Sounds and the unapologetic quirkiness of Devo.

Fans have described Trash Signal as “hitting a spot somewhere between the Pixies, Ex Hex, and Stereolab.”