The Toy Dolls

The Album After The Last One

Written by: PP on 14/10/2012 18:47:45

Formed in 1979, The Toy Dolls are a relic from the original British Oi! punk scene, having released a slew of albums during the 80s and 90s before slowing down their release schedule significantly in the new millennium. In fact, "The Album After The Last One", is their first one since 2004's "Our Last Album?" and only the second one since 2000's "Anniversary Anthems". Critics and fans both seem to be in agreement that their best material was written during the early years with a glimpse of hope halfway through the 90s. But they do have historical value for their efforts and influence in the early days of the British pop punk scene in particular, and not much more in the modern era, at least if one is to judge by their twelfth studio album.

If you expected that the band had (finally) grown up in the last eight years, well, you're out of luck. They offer the same juvenile, if not outright silly humour suitable for teenagers at best, children at worst, delivered with extremely annoying lead vocals that set into focus the early sentiments in the genre, where it was commonly accepted that you didn't need to know how to sing in order to be in a punk rock band. The instrumentals range from no frills punk, pop punk, to straight up oi! punk with the added gang shout choruses and all that, but mostly pop punk from the original days of the genre when The Toy Dolls were practically the only band playing the style.

Despite a couple of catchy pieces like "Kevin's Cotton Wool Kids", "Don't Drive Yer Car UpDraycott Avenue" etc, the overall impression of the album is that it's a) inconsistent and b) not at all comparable to modern bands in the genre. What may have worked decades ago - the whole Dickies meets Oi! thing - just sounds weird and almost unpleasant in 2012, and when coupled with how retarded the lyrical universe still is, there's just no way around it: The Toy Dolls aren't a relevant band anymore.

Download: Kevin's Cotton Wool Kids, Don't Drive Yer Car UpDraycott Avenue,
For the fans of: The Adicts, Cock Sparrer, UK Subs, The Dickies
Listen: Facebook

Release date 19.03.2012
Secret Records

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