If It's Too Loud...

One of my favorite things is going to see a diverse live bill. Anyone can put together a show with three pop punk bands on it, but it's a challenge (and far more interesting) to put three unique bands on the same show and have it work out perfectly. Saturday night at The Sinclair saw the steamcrunk of Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, doombrass heroes Eight Foot Manchild, and the baroque pop of Lovina Falls, and it was perfect. Opening the show was Lovina Falls, the current musical project of Valerie Forgione of Mistle Thrush. This was my third or fourth time seeing them in just a few months, and I'm still entertained every time. It's been interesting to watch Lovina Falls adjust and discover their sound over the past two or so years, and I think they've nailed their current sound down. It's an engaging blend of the baroque pop they started out with mixed with a more rock based sound. Songs like "Ellery Way" and "Vaulted" continue to ...

One of the things that gets me through the month of February is that knowing when it ends, we'll be getting a new album from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. Boston's favorite steamcrunk band has been taking part in the RPM Challenge (which challenges artists to write and record a full album during the month of February) for years now. While Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys typically use this challenge to experiment (2020's edition, THE CUTTING HORSE, had a distinct country feel), this year's is more of a traditional Army of Toys release. That's not to say that BRICK THROUGH A LIMOUSINE doesn't see the band experiment. The album starts off with "GIMME A CURSE," which is more of a piano focused shanty. The title track is a hard rocker that is going to easily become a live staple in the near future. "IMA BANNED BOOK" is a kind of almost industrial meets folk experiment that works amazingly well. It simmers with barely r...

One of the only things I look forward to every February is the RPM Challenge submission from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. With the RPM Challenge, artists write, record, and produce an album during the month of February. The Army of Toys' releases are always interesting, and that is no exception with this years', BETWEEN BREATHS. One reason the songs on BETWEEN BREATHS so interesting is how... normal they are. Instead of their normal mixture of punk, folk, cabaret, indie rock, metal, etc., the album opens with "BED AND BREAKFAST," which is a piano led singer-songwriter song about opening a bed and breakfast. Of course, it can't be completely straightforward as Sickert opens by stating that they are "the bellhop from Hell." But it's still along the lines of a Ben Folds Five song, if Ben Folds Five wrote songs about a damned bed and breakfast. The singer-songwriter piano songs continue with the very well timed "WALLY WONKA." T...

We've been patiently awaiting the new single and video from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys to be released on July 22, but it turns out our steamcrunk favorites have made the song available on their Bandcamp early! "Keep My Head" sees the Army of Toys going where we never thought we'd see them: The world of the mainstream! Of course mainstream is relative, but this is by far their most accessible single to date. It starts off as an almost classical piece before the rock kicks in. "Keep My Head" lives in the world of straightforward alt-rock and posibly even adult contemporary... but through their very own filter. It's just the perfect balance of weird and mainstream that if this was the late 90's and/or modern rock radio was still a thing, this could almost be guaranteed to be a surprise hit. But in 2023, we'll have to rely on word of mouth to get this the attention it deserves. You can listen to "Keep My Head" below. The v...

Beautiful Was the Fight , the new documentary feature from Dave Habeeb, started out at a Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys show. (I believe it was   this one .) It was Habeeb's first time seeing Ruby Rose Fox, and he decided he wanted to make a documentary short about her. He filmed during her Queen Treatment Only Festival the next month, but upon seeing other artists like When Particles Collide, Sarah Blacker, and Haley Jane & The Primates, his short documentary about one artist expanded to a feature length documentary about women in the Boston music scene. This documentary is going to appeal to just about any reader of If It's Too Loud... based solely on the artists that are included in  Beautiful Was the Fight.  It features artists we regularly cover such as the aforementioned Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys and Ruby Rose Fox, as well as other favorites including Sapling, Wyn Doran, Liz Bills & the Change, Stormstress, Carissa Johnson, a...

There's only one thing that I enjoy about March, and it's that every year Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys participate in the February RPM Challenge and write, record, and produce a new album! Every year their submissions get weirder and somehow better than the ones before. 2023 has given us Ghost Parade. The title track is quickly becoming a favorite, and I can see it becoming a beloved live show staple and ending up on many Halloween playlists, with it's spooky vibe that reminds me a lot of classic cartoon music. Immediately following that is "MEET ME ON THE MOON," a ballad which sounds like Walter Sickert is shooting for the Adult Contemporary charts or a Grey's Anatomy needle drop... but through their own odd filter. I always thought 2020's RPM Challenge album THE CUTTING HORSE  would be the Toys' strangest release, but what makes Ghost Parade  so intriguing is how almost mainstream it ends up being. "KEEP MY HEAD" is a gothic...

Photo via Facebook If you're of a certain age and disposition, you probably have roughly a thousand memories associated with Mazzy Star's iconic "Fade Into You." You know that it's one of the greatest and most beautiful songs of all time. However, it doesn't seem to get covered as much as you'd (or at least I'd) expect it to. As part of their streaming talk/variety show Bunker Buds , Walter Alice Sickert recorded a solo cover of the song. It's just Sickert and their guitar, and it's spectacular. I don't think any vocals on "Fade Into You" could top Hope Sandoval's, but Sickert does a fabulous job, and this cover is quite simply stunning. With the theatrics and bombast of the Army of Broken Toys, it's easy to miss how spectacular of a vocalist they can be. "Fade Into You" helps remind us all of Sickert's talents. You can watch Walter Alice Sickert cover "Fade Into You" below. For more on the artist, ...

One of my favorite things about Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys is their sense of pure joy. Of all the songs we've covered of theirs, none have been more fun than their latest, "Goth Beach." It's a throwback to all of your favorite 60's beach songs, just a little heavier and steam-crunky. This is a joyously rockin' song about smoking a spliff with Robert Smith, Bauhaus bikinis, spf 666 sunscreen, a shark smoking cloves, and more. Sometimes, especially now, you just need a fun and silly rock song to help get you through. If you've ever wanted to hear goth surf guitar paired with metal viola playing, "Goth Beach" is your dream song. And if you haven't, this is still the song of the summer. You can watch the video for "Goth Beach" below. The song is currently available for download over at Bandcamp . For more on Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, check out the artist's website .

February is the worst month of the year. Everyone is sick of the cold and snow, and everything is starting to get that gross late winter sludge on it. Even when the snow melts, it just makes the world muddy, and we can't even start to consider Spring being near yet. The one good thing about February is the RPM Challenge, where bands write and record a full album during the month of February. The highlight of that lately has been Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys' contribution! This year's RPM Challenge album is Permanent Fire, and is their seventeenth overall(!) . This is a much more scaled down sound than we're used to from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, but I hesitate to called it stripped down or sparse. The production on the album is unbelievable, especially when you consider how quickly everything had to come together to make it. Calling the album Permanent Fire expressly lays out the theme of the album. This sure sounds like a reaction to...

For the past five or so years, Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys have been performing Something Strange , their music and burlesque tribute to Tim Burton's iconic film The Nightmare Before Christmas. I've (somehow) only made it to one performance of it, but it's an absolutely delightful live reimagining of a holiday classic done in a way that only Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys can. Obviously the show didn't happen last year, but this year saw the return of Something Strange last weekend. This week saw the release of "Making Christmas," Sickert and their band's cover from the performance. It's a wonderful version of the song that stays quite true to the original, and if you love the band or the film, you're going to love this. The Army of Broken Toys perfectly capture the joy and playful menace of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I've been wishing for a release from this show, so this is particularly special for me. You ...

Sure it's November 2, but that doesn't mean we can't have one last Halloween treat for you all! Late Friday Walter Alice Sickert released a cover of Norma Tanega's "You're Dead." If you're like me, you have no idea who Norma Tanega is and certainly have never heard "You're Dead," but then you'll listen to the original and immediately know it without having any idea how or why you know it. It's a joyous rock song with plenty of 60's groove that is somehow in my musical memory banks. A Quentin Tarantino movie would make the most sense. (Turns out it's the theme for What We Do in the Shadows, which I really need to give another shot .)  Sickert's version is somehow even groovier and more 60's than the original. In their hands, it has a swinging feel and sounds like it's from a classic variety show. It's more boisterous and celebratory, which makes sense since it's a song called "You're Dead,"...

Photo by Ken Sears I've seen Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys a lot over the last nine or so years. In fact, I just saw them a little over a month ago, so you'd think I'd be able to skip a performance so soon. But when it was announced that the Toys would be playing a special acoustic set at the Bradley Rosaceous Collection at the Arnold Arboretum as part of the A.R.T. Arboretum Experience, I knew I would be dragging my family into the city for an afternoon of nature and live music! The show wasn't entirely acoustic. Brother Bones was playing an electric guitar. Aside from that, the only amplification was for vocals. Even drummer Matt Zappa was stripped down and playing a single drum and cymbal. It was about as far off from a standard Toys show as you could get, but that's what helped make this such a unique and special experience. The band brought as much noise as they possibly could, and still had their intensity. Not being plugged into anything allowe...

With their band Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, Walter Sickert blends folk, rock, metal, cabaret, punk, and just about every genre of music you can imagine, but I never expected Sickert to go hip hop. However, that's what you get with their latest musical project. Performing under the name Walter Alice, Sickert has brought in Boston MC Brandie Blaze for "Party In My Heads." (A Facebook post calls this song " A brutally positive, Dystopian, end of summer jam." Gr anted, sometimes the Army of Broken Toys do dip their toes in the world of hip hop, but "Party In My Heads" is a full on hip hop song. Well, not quite. There is more than a little of the industrial sound of Ministry here, but this is still mostly hip hop. What's truly surprising and great is how great of a rapper Sickert proves to be. You would expect them to be blown away by a more experienced MC, but Sickert holds their own right alongside Blaze's fantastic verse. You ca...

This past Saturday was an interesting one. While all four bands that played are some of my favorites, Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys, Julie Rhodes, The Devil's Twins, and Salem Wolves are four bands I would never have picked to all play together. Sure, any two of them would make perfect sense, maybe even three of them would. But all four just seemed like a strange bill. A fantastic bill, but a strange one. Plus, it was a chance to check out ONCE Somerville's latest chapter. Obviously I was going, no matter what. ONCE Somerville was/is a beloved local independent venue. Somehow they transformed a restaurant's function room into one of the best places to see a live show in Boston. When it closed last year during the pandemic, it was a huge blow to the arts community, but they vowed to continue in a new location. The temporary new location is at Boynton Yards. Maybe it was the inclusion of the word "yards" in the name, but I pictured a green space with ...

February is the worst month of the year. All of the holiday excitement is officially gone, and you're just left with being cold, and everything around you looks dirty. The one good thing about February is the RPM challenge, where artists write and record a full album during that month. We've been enjoying Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys' RPM releases for a while now, and this year's is no exception. Their 2020 release, THE CUTTING HORSE , was the steamcrunk, punk, folk, metal, burlesque, etc. band's take on country. Almost Together Again sounds like their take on electronic music. The seven songs here are weird even by Army of Broken Toys standards, which is saying quite a lot. The opening track, "SO MUCH," even has a twisted new age vibe. Haunting doesn't even begin to describe the song. "Come In Lights" sounds like Aphex Twin doing his very best to make a track for the chill room but not quite getting the feel right. "Posi...

Dolly Parton's "Jolene" might be the best song ever written. It's at least top two. Unfortunately, for too many of us that grew up in the 1980's, Parton was seen as a punchline, especially for those of us that hated country music. It was The White Stripes' cover of "Jolene" that sucked me into all the joy that Parton brings to the universe, so I'm always going to be partial to any cover of that song. On Saturday morning, I woke up to an email announcing that Walter Sickert had released a cover of "Jolene." Knowing Sickert's work, I knew exactly what to expect. It was going to be a dark, creepy version, maybe even leaning towards the White Stripes' version. What I didn't expect is that it was going to be beautiful. Sickert's version is stunning, and completely heartfelt. Sickert takes the song and sings it in such a way that you believe they're in danger of losing their man to a redhead named Jolene. Sickert's ver...

We're now in the timeline where our favorite weirdo steamcrunkers are doing straightforward Bob Dylan covers. Walter Sickert of Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys fame has released a cover of Dylan's iconic "The Times They Are a-Changin'" which obviously reflects our current times. It's just a straight up vocals/guitar/harmonica cover of one of the more legendary songs from one of the most legendary musicians still out there.  In a message that went out to their followers on Bandcamp, they said: “Hi Friends, It's been quite a mindfuckitude to be isolated from everyone and everything we hold dear except our tiny little family. We could not be more grateful to you for the continued support. The future is uncertain, the arts sector is decimated, and a return to "normal" is just not going to happen (at least not any time soon) so this support has been invaluable. Walter made this cover with a deep feeling of gratefulness to you. Thank...

We all have come to expect a new album from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys every March from the RPM Challenge in February. This year also saw an April Stay Home Make Music challenge, which means Walter Sickert has crafted a new album under quarantine. Now quarantine is making us all a little loopier than normal, and we all know the bizarre and twisted musical world Sickert occupies, so what will happen to their musical output? Turns out they have gone mainstream? Almost? "Poison Queen of New Orleans" sounds like it would be a typical Army of Toys murderous jam, but it's a fairly standard folk song. Well, standard as far as Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys gets. This would still be weirdo music from your average band, but compared to what we're used to from this band of steamcrunkers, BUNKER BUDS  is practically Jack Johnson. "Let Love Be the Way" is a creepy folk song, but it's also downright lovely. "Sister Knives" ...

Writing, recording, and releasing a new album during the RPM Challenge is an impressive feat. Being a part of two RPM Challenge albums is a crazy goal. But to be a part of writing, recording, and releasing three separate albums? Blake Girndt deserves some kind of award. He is a member of blog favorite Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys who just released THE CUTTING HORSE , and just released Lady Jane Grey's Wholesome Ritual with Death and The Poetess. (He's also a member of The I Want You, in case you're keeping score.) If three other musical projects weren't enough, it's time for him to release a solo album, Just Rattlesnakes. The album is a standard solo singer/songwriter project, but through the lens of someone who also plays with Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. You get a blend of Lou Barlow's solo acoustic work, Daniel Johnston, and Jay Bennett. The songs seem to cycle through varying levels of straightforward and quirky while neve...

February is kind of a waste of a month. The weather is always atrocious, and it just seems like a holding place until something you're looking forward to. The best part of February is that, once it's over, we always get a new album from Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys that they recorded for the RPM Challenge (The RPM Challenge is to write, record, and release an album in the month of February.) This year's RPM Challenge album is their fifteenth overall. THE CUTTING HORSE  may be their best of those albums, but is definitely their most cohesive. As you can tell by the name of the album, song titles like "Blood in the Saddle of my Heart," and the album cover, THE CUTTING HORSE  appears to be a cowboy themed album. And, yes, a Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys cowboy album is even stranger than you think it is. It's somehow done very tongue in cheek and earnestly at the same time. At times it almost sounds like they're auditioning ...