The song proved to be a successful comeback single for Suede, receiving praise from critics.
NME featured Suede on the front cover of the 27 July 1996 issue for an interview promoting their latest comeback. Ted Kessler said: "So the scaremongers were wrong. Brett Anderson is the creative force behind Suede. Here's the proof: this week sees the release of their first post-
Bernard Butler single and nobody can really admit that they thought it would sound half as good as it does." He added: "’Trash’, for that is the single, kicks into touch the dark introspection of their last output, the
Dog Man Star album, with a flamboyant explosion of space-pop guitars and high-octane Brettswail that flutters the senses, quickens the pulse and gladdens the heart like a cheap night out on expensive drugs." Kevin Courtney of
The Irish Times said it is "probably their most direct and immediate pop statement to date."
Melody Maker had proclaimed the song "single of the week" a fortnight prior to release. Tania Branigan called it "bitterly sweet, a love song for strangers; fast, in every sense of the word." In reference to the single's B-sides, she said: "In the finest '
Drowners' tradition, the two B-sides are almost finer." Pan-European magazine
Music & Media wrote, "They haven't lost their camp, dramatic touch (piped strings!), distorted guitars and strong melodies. Great summer record."
Music Week rated it five out of five, and also they picked it as Single of the Week. The reviewer noted, "This return single finds Suede at their most flamboyant with
Brett Anderson's deliciously
Bowie-like vocals stealing the show over an adventurous arrangement. This should be their biggest hit to date and augurs very well for their September album." The magazine's Alan Jones declared it "their most disciplined and direct pop nugget to date", "hugely commercial, and likely to be their biggest hit yet." George Byrne of the
Irish Independent had high praise for the single, writing: "The four songs which make up the 'Trash' EP (Nude) are the most uncluttered and focused since their first three singles, dipping back into glam rock with a vengeance. The title track is glorious, a robust romp with a keyboard intro reminiscent of Bowie's '
Heroes' as Anderson leerily lolls with the lyrical lowlife." James Bennett of
The Telegraph felt the song could reach number one due to the lack of competition from fellow Britpop bands on its release. On the single, he wrote: "This time round, public acceptance may be added to critical acclaim because the comeback single, Trash, is instant, flawless, three-minute essence-of-pop, as irresistible as '
Satisfaction' or '
Ride a White Swan'." He added: "Brett Anderson's acutely mannered vocal [...] gels with Richard Oakes' insistent guitar to weave a magic reminiscent of the soaring romanticism conjured by Bowie and
Fripp on 'Heroes'." Music writer
James Masterton felt the single "lacks something of the strength of melody that characterised many of their previous recordings and which elevated them to the status of instant classics." ==Music video==