Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys - Casualty Menagerie

Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys are an arty, chamber-cabaret pop band from Allston, MA, who have a similar sensibility to artists like Amanda Palmer/the Dresden Dolls (at least regarding the importance of visuals and the audience experience), and Murder by Death (musically). They feature violins, cellos, and other instrumentation not always associated with ‘traditional’ rock bands.

I’d never heard of them before the aforementioned secret show Amanda Palmer played recently, and even then didn’t really investigate their music. I wish that I had, as the band put on quite the performance. And this EP is a great starting point for discovering the band’s music.

First of all, the primary force behind the music here is, of course, Walter Sickert. He sings the songs in a style that reminds me very strongly of Chris Farren, of Fake Problems. He has that somewhat scratchy voice that manages to be distinctive, and a good counter to the soft music, but not grating on the ears. At least, not unpleasantly so.

The music itself is primarily violin, cello, an acoustic guitar, a clarinet, I think, and a simple drum beat. It gives the whole thing a sort of dark carnival or cabaret vibe, particularly on “Pale Horse.” The songs are all distinctive and catchy, and will have you tapping your feet along to their gloomy waltzes.

There are 6 songs here, one of which is a “radio edit” of the first song, “No Room,” so effectively there are 5 songs. One would expect, with so few songs, each to be excellent, or at least listenable, and one would be correct here; the Broken Toys are on top of their game here, and sound excellent. This is definitely an EP- and band- worth your attention if you’ve found yourself at all interested in the “dark cabaret” scene that seems to have been growing in the last decade.

Tags: army of broken toys, walter sickert