|
Toy Love arose out of the ashes of popular punk outfit The Enemy, when Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Mike Dooley enlisted new members Paul Kean and Jane Walker. Toy Love lasted barely 20 months, yet are arguably one of the few outfits in New Zealand's brief pop music history to attain any kind of "legendary" status, and like acts such as The Velvet Underground and Iggy & The Stooges, their influence goes way beyond simply recorded output. Where The Enemy stuck firmly to its punk ethic and playing only original material, Toy Love embraced not only the cream of The Enemy's considerable catalogue but also sixties pop influences, covering the likes of Badfinger, Marc Bolan, Doors, Bob Dylan, Troggs, Kinks, Pink Floyd, Buddy Holly and such like. The result, featuring Knox's unique and outrageous frontman antics, was a mixture of punk energy, art rock, and superb songs, with the band quickly gaining considerable notoriety throughout New Zealand. Record industry interest was immediate (such was the "live" power of the band) and saw the band quickly recording singles before disappearing to "break" Australia. However as is often the case with our trans-Tasman cousins, Toy Love struggled to make the deserved inroads and on their return to New Zealand for a lengthy nationwide tour to promote their debut album the band decided to quietly disband after their last Auckland gig. Certainly the stuff legends are made of. And with the CD reissue delayed for so long due to band dissatisfaction with the overall sound, this remastered version courtesy of Dale Cotton ( getting the tick from all the members of the band) and its slew of singles, unreleased tracks and raw demos, finally elevates this band, and the music they made, to its true and deserving historical status. With 40 stunning tracks across two discs, and a full-colour 32 page booklet featuring sleeve art, posters, lyric sheets, diary extracts and other insights from the band members themselves, this is an essential addition to any contemporary music collection. Highly recommended.
Shipping April 26th. |
