“toy_dolls”
The Toy Dolls
One More Megabyte
Rotten
For eighteen years the Land of the Engs’ Toy Dolls have played and recorded (fourteen albums to date) and finally there’s a US domestic release! Whew! For a minute there, I was wondering “… where have I been?” Thankfully, I have an excuse for not knowing about this incredible band of retarded punk Englishmen!
A healthy mix of the Young Ones, Rezillos, Iron Maiden, and Queen, the Toy Dolls are the Monty Python of punk rock, as One More Megabyte is chock full of joke after joke, the objects of which range from computer game addicts (title track) to snotty Shakespearean actors (“Fred Olivier”) to lovers’ quarrels (at least four of the songs) to lonely introverts (“I’m a Lonely Bastard”). As an American, listening to One More Megabyte is like reading Viz magazine and smiling smugly to myself because I get the jokes. Then again, what guy out there doesn’t know a woman who’d fit the bill to “She’s a Leech”?
Quick, witty sketches introduce/outro-duce each song, which puts a wonderful novelty “spin” to the album. The title song begins with a young lad’s parents placing a time bomb under his computer in hopes that he’ll “…get off that damn computer!” At the end of the song, a plea for one more megabyte – to stave off the insanity that will come if there’s not enough to run the system – and the bomb explodes. The victim’s comment: “Cor! They’re making these computer games more realistic by the minute!”
I absolutely, totally recommend the Toy Dolls, not just because it’s great punk rock, but because they represent the novelty of punk rock. They have wild choruses, blazing guitar riffs, lightning-fast cover tunes (e.g., “I’m Gonna Be 500 Miles”), and make your heart open up! Guests in the backing chorus include members of the Vibrators, Lurkers, Wildhearts, Sugar Snatch, and the Inmates. Now please send me the last 18 years’ worth of their material! Rotten Records, P.O. Box 2157, Montclair, CA 91763
