Toys That Kill

Control The Sun (2003)

Scott

With underground music slowly becoming a contest of haircuts, shoes, and how many X's you can place in your name, it's a great thing that bands like Toys That Kill exist.

Let's start with the obligatory "Toys That Kill features ex-members of F.Y.P." comment. Ok, now that we have that out of the way, we can continue. If you've heard F.Y.P. then you have a good idea of how TTK sound. For those who aren't in the know however, imagine if you will, a band with heavily distorted guitars likely to be compared to some sort of buzz saw. Then, toss in two screechy vocalists. They do some nice harmonies and complement each other pretty well at times. They aren't perfect, but that only adds to the magic of this band. Lastly, you have drummer Denis Fleps. He is quite the drummer, which can be heard on the title track "control the sun." I don't think this band has ever heard the term "over-produced." A friend of mine will constantly compare them to Dillinger Four, and while I can see some similarity, they are a little rougher around the edges than D4.

Lyrically, the songs are pretty cryptic, but overall you can get a sort of political vibe. This works pretty well, as it lets the listener think and decipher the message, rather than having the listener hear 2 minutes of facts about the Gulf War.

A good number of songs open with obscure sound clips, which, surprisingly, don't really get old. While there are some great songs on here, I'd be lying if I said they were all great. There a few songs I just can't get in to. The slower songs especially. But I'd say there are more good songs than not.

So what's the overall consensus here? If you like punk rock, and I mean real punk rock, this album is for you. It has an old school feel, there is no doubt about it. TTK are playing a style of music that has virtually died out, and yet they find a way to revitalize it and make it sound brand new. I highly recommend this album.