Dead Beat
SHARK TOYS – s/t LP
$23.95
Inner city mutations reign supreme on this shambolic, scuzz-pop ripper from the bowels of Los Angeles. Throbbing bass, jagged guitars, and dreary vocals anchor each tune with grimy proto-punk toughness and clangy, post punk grit. And the poetry-as-lyrics vocals are smattered with splashes of Keys and a Moog that have a real rhythmic, almost mechanical, feel to them that kinda comes off a little like Devo. But don't take that as them sounding like a Wave band, because they're far from it. SHARK TOYS music is carved out of the ramshackle, pop-fused, punk of bands like the Modern Lovers and Television Personalities. Intimate and shambolic, gutter-pop, slop polished in Swell Maps, Raincoats and Gang of Four decadence.
"Shark Toys have crafted a sound that could be a direct line to the quirkiness of early L.A. weirdos like the Urinals, but their catchy, off-kilter song-writing, zipping toy keyboards and wild guitars could easily be the result of big-city kids having an early exposure to the skronky and unhinged Coachwhips or the wackiness of the New Zealand punks that solidified the Flying Nun scene. Fun as all get-out, their self-titled LP (recorded and mixed by Monty Buckles of The Lamps) is a clanging, rock and roll romp you shouldn’t miss." - UNPIANO
"It reminds me of The Fall, Tyvek, G.Green and Parquet Courts, but some how beachier and more Californian, which is appropriate considering these blokes are from sunny LA." - LO-PIE
"...The sound Shark Toys invokes is a lot like what one would expect to come-about if The Clean and Swell Maps had a lovechild, abandoned it in LA, and thereby led it to grow up, mature, and fend for itself amidst the palm trees and parking tickets all the while snacking on cheap tasty burritos." - PROPER YARN
"Shark Toys have crafted a sound that could be a direct line to the quirkiness of early L.A. weirdos like the Urinals, but their catchy, off-kilter song-writing, zipping toy keyboards and wild guitars could easily be the result of big-city kids having an early exposure to the skronky and unhinged Coachwhips or the wackiness of the New Zealand punks that solidified the Flying Nun scene. Fun as all get-out, their self-titled LP (recorded and mixed by Monty Buckles of The Lamps) is a clanging, rock and roll romp you shouldn’t miss." - UNPIANO
"It reminds me of The Fall, Tyvek, G.Green and Parquet Courts, but some how beachier and more Californian, which is appropriate considering these blokes are from sunny LA." - LO-PIE
"...The sound Shark Toys invokes is a lot like what one would expect to come-about if The Clean and Swell Maps had a lovechild, abandoned it in LA, and thereby led it to grow up, mature, and fend for itself amidst the palm trees and parking tickets all the while snacking on cheap tasty burritos." - PROPER YARN
