toyGuitar
Move Like a Ghost
(Fat Wreck Chords)
Last summer Fat Wreck Chords carried the clubhouse across the states to celebrate their 25 years as a label. It was here that I heard toyGuitar live for the first time. With undeniably catchy tracks, their debut In this Mess quickly reached my point break as a top punk album of the year. No strangers to the label, their San Francisco Fat roots extend farther back than Google’s Bay area buyout. Lead guitar and vocalist Jack Dalrymple has been at the helm of Dead to Me and One Man Army, and has done a decade stint in Swingin’ Utters. So toyGuitar must be another steadfast occasion to don headgear and gnash your molars in da pit, right?
With a lengthy career of brash, and speedy street punk to fill his resume, toyGuitar is a change of scenery for Dalrymple. His sound has transitioned from gritty Tenderloin to the crashing bay waves of Fort Point. He notes where he’s been as a songwriter, and exposes wanderlust for ways to branch out. Move Like a Ghost sways to surf vibes that jangle your bones and put wiggle in the hips. Reverb raunch and high guitar melodies pop out of every section. Paul Oxborrow’s bass lines bob in a rhythm that would synch up perfectly with a Dog Town skate slalom. Massive swells of rhythm build tension just as quickly as they release with Rosie Gonce snapping the kit on “Peach Fuzz” like a “Wipeout” contemporary. At any given moment that you expect a crash, things only come out on top.
As you’re getting caught up in the pace, backup vocals from Oxborrow and guitarist Miles Peck coo with clapping hands to escalate the mellow beach feeling. The sound is tuned in on an Oldies station. The band on the radio had been peer-pressured to smoking a joint in the sunset with Lux Interior of The Cramps while Julian Casablancas of the Strokes was on lookout. It’s hooky, dreamy, and raw all at once.
The album channels the fun side of death in lyrics that reminisce old times while taunting what the future may hold. As the cover art suggests, Dalrymple’s vocals echo muffled as a spooky spirit under a sheet might. With great practice in being punk, it’s thrilling to hear toyGuitar continue to mash up more influences and get high on something new. It’s good to ditch the mouth guard, invest in slip-ons, and hit the beach party. Even if the beach party is just in your bedroom. (Scott Murry)
Purchase Move Like A Ghost here.
