TOYLIT is a band from Arizona formed by Effren Haro, Carlos Velasquez and Nathaniel Lopez. They recently released The Real American Zero. The band plays into a mix of rock genres quite successfully. I really liked the musicianship especially the drumming. The vocals were the most divisive aspect to me. The vocalist sounds really tense, dramatic, aggressive and even angry almost the entire time. This approach seemed to work much better when the music matches his levels of intensity. The softer moments however could feel jarring and the vocals sometimes seemed like they were separated from the music.
The band gets going with “All On Your Own” which is one of the highlights. It’s a solid song but the NOFX esque chorus is really where the band thrives. “Ghost White” is perhaps the best example of the vocals clashing with the music. I thought the music on the verse was great. I wanted the vocalist to just take it back a bit. It just seemed a bit over the top on certain words. The chorus however is again where the band thrives. The vocalist sounds like Tim Harrington from Les Savy Fav who is one of my all time favorite vocalists. “Eyes” has perhaps the prettiest verse yet, bringing to mind a band like Pavement. The formula is a little different on this song with no distinct hook but it works for the song. “Me, You” mixes elements of post-rock and features a stellar performance from the drummer. It’s also arguably the best all around performance from the vocalist. “15 Thoughts” is another solid song. It’s dynamic, kinetic and emotionally resonant. This band seems to be on to something. I think a couple of tweaks regarding the details as previously mentioned should be the focus moving forward. There is definitely a lot to appreciate and they cover a broad spectrum of punk, indie rock and post-rock that I think I a lot of people would love. Take a listen.
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