Live review: Komedia – 19/11/09

“Have you ever stopped to think about why you listen to music? Perhaps it’s to empathise with your fellow man? To find peace in the knowledge that you’re not alone in the world? To reaffirm the hope that those abominable thoughts and emotions of yours are actually felt by others? Or perhaps it’s a form of escape from the mundane triviality of your nine to five lifestyle?
Well, if escapism is what you are craving, then you need look no further than 12 Stone Toddler, a Brighton band whose delightfully twisted Psycho-Pop could be the eerie soundtrack to Hunter S. Thompson’s most debauched hallucinogenic nightmare.

As the band celebrate the end of a productive and busy 2009, the fervent roars of appreciation from the crowd promise more of the same next year from one of Brighton’s most original and least sane rock bands.”- James Watts - XYZ Magazine

“Those freaky-deaky psychopathically-psychedelic circus-rockers, 12 Stone Toddler are back hot on the heels of their debut album, ‘Does It Scare You?’ with their awkward second album, ‘Scheming’. Now if you’ve not heard of the Brighton band before then what you get is a band that love to entertain. There is a complex campness in the showmanship, and tunes with unexpected hooks, and a kaleidoscopic mix of genres…

First song, ‘Batten Down The Hatches’ has a majestic tinkle of melodic pianos and a gentle verse, before the deep guitar kicks in and the complementary high keyboards giving us a nice catchy mix of Indie-Rock-Pop. However in, ‘The Suit’ we have a simple arrangement of a mid-tempo song that plays innocently even with the ghost whine background, with the band’s trademark big chorus. A fantastic song. Then in the first single, ‘Under The Weather’ we have the best use of the voicebox for rhythm since The Flying Pickets and the House Martins.

The great thing about the band is that whilst the first few songs border on a theatrical-indie, - and you may not be far from the mark if you took a handful of Scissor Sister’s tunes and gave them more balls, making them more rock instead of pop, they have songs like, ‘Drowning A Witch’ that you really think that the band’s muse is in need of a straightjacket. I’ll say no more although on the band’s first album they had a song about balloons that sounded like bizarre gypsy rockers Gogol Bordello… ‘Kick Me A Little Bit’ is a slow and gentle song that builds epically at points.

I can’t help but think of Soundgarden in the verses even if it’s down to singer Chris Otero’s voice in, ‘Broken Hearts & Battle Scars’ whereby he sings, “Do you want it? Do you really, really want it?” The poetic plod of ‘Apple From The Tallest Tree’ is welcoming, showcasing some wonderful lyrics. Then ‘Death In The Zoo’ could be a song in a stage production…but better.

In the album title song, ‘Scheming’ we once again have a fine example of what the band are all about. The verses are gentle with a rhythm sound from what sounds like an accordion in a European flamboyance, that builds into a theatrical chorus that is slightly side-show-esque with the words, “With you at the door I thought you were knocking, I couldn’t be sure ooom-bop. With you at the door I thought you were knocking, I couldn’t be sure, ooom-bop. I sit on the floor. Quietly rocking, you’ve seen it before. I sit on the floor. Quietly rocking, you’ve seen it before…” Lovely… Then ther are some eerie ‘Good Vibrations’ high background whines in the mix and match of, ‘(It) Was Such A Beautiful Thing’.

In ‘Autumn Song’ we have a song that could’ve been sung by Frank Sinatra, albeit it is high in places, but is a timeless slow number that could have been in the 1920’s, 1950’s, 1970’s or last week. It’s not my cup of tea as a song, but is done so well that you have to tip your proverbial. Then much rum must’ve been drunk whilst the consummation of last song, ‘Seasick’. A song filled with tales of the seven seas, buried treasure and the such like with music likened to some of Alice Cooper’s drunken moments from the 1970’s. A fitting finish.

12 Stone Toddler are a band that will pass over most people in England as the sound is something that we have trouble trying to comprehend. They are flamboyant, theatrical, poetic, entertaining, original and hugely talented. This album is just as good as their brilliant debut. What more can you say? Brilliant.”

www.roomthirteen.com

“Scheming is a confounding album, which alternates between “jokey” and “serious” at an alarming rate, but at its finest it makes such categories seem irrelevant, leaving the listener free to soak up the band’s infectious sense of enjoyment.
A large part of that enjoyment comes from the arrangements, which are full of unexpected touches. Album opener Batten Down The Hatches kicks things off with a jazzy shuffle, but barely twenty seconds have passed before a country-tinged guitar is thrown into the mix, leading up to a chorus that epitomises what “lounge-metal” actually sounds like. Much of the album unfolds in the same spirit, and whether it’s the cowbell/theremin combination that opens This Suit, or the percussive boing that edges the first verse of Kick Me A Little Bit towards its conclusion, there’s plenty here for connoisseurs of unusual instrumentation. Thankfully, no matter how incongruous these ideas may seem on paper, 12 Stone Toddler’s instrumental backings tend to serve the music rather than detracting from it.
The vocals are another matter. One of the joys to be had from listening to this album is gradually getting great chunks of it stuck in your head, and naturally a lot of this has to do with the vocal melodies - several of the songs (Batten Down The Hatches and the title track spring to mind) boast seriously catchy choruses. But there’s something uneasy about the way the band’s various vocal styles sit alongside each other. Sometimes the lead vocalist’s delivery sounds serious (such as in the chorus to Seasick), but elsewhere you wonder how much tongue remains concealed in his cheek, particularly on the first two tracks. To confuse things further, the backing vocals are often anything but po-faced, regardless of whether or not the lead vocals sound sincere. When everyone is in on the joke it works well enough, such as in the cartoony chorus to This Suit. Elsewhere things seem less natural - the raspy “ba ba bas” on Under The Weather are a nice touch, but grate somewhat alongside the straighter sounding lead line.
Still, when 12 Stone Toddler get it right they validate all the contradictions. Death In The Zoo, my favourite track on the album, sums this up. A reggae-tinged ballad about animal captivity (and possibly more?), punctuated by rock guitars and comically eerie horror-movie tones, it probably doesn’t sound like much fun, but in this band’s hands it manages to be entertaining, tuneful, and even quite poignant in places. While I can’t say the same for all of the album, the strike rate is pretty high, which is lucky, because once you’ve heard these songs you’ll be singing them to yourself for a good while yet.”

www.themusicmagazine.co.uk/review

“Ready to give the likes of the Kaiser chiefs and Maroon 5’s of the world a run for their money, 12 Stone Toddler arrive with their new album ‘Scheming.’
With a welcome voice leading effort, the music here is also a big draw. This isn’t anything too particular either, there are psychedelic, reggae beats. Some songs come over more serious than others; the more manic sounding likes of “Drowning a Witch” seem far more tongue in cheek with their inventive sounds. The majority of each song do follow a two faced palette with very abrupt distinctions between chorus/verse. Perhaps these polarising qualities are what make the album glue together so well, despite their sheer talent for crossing musical boundaries in their compositions.
With a real feel for how to let an album flow from smooth alternative rock to a more hard hitting in your face grind; 12 Stone Toddler have created an album that is rich in variety.”

www.glasswerk.co.uk/review

“Having bagged themselves what may prove to be the last great name for a band, 12 Stone Toddler can get on with their one-band assault on that most neglected of genres, that of lounge metal. Simultaneously magnificently louche and uncomplicatedly ROCK, Candles On The Cake takes a wry song about our culture’s obsession with age or the lack thereof, and makes it sound so sleazy that it would be right at home underpinning the latest carnal exertions of Jenna Jameson. She’s a porn star, as if you didn’t know, and 12 Stone Toddler may end up dating her if they continue on their fine trajectory.”

Pete Cashmore, The Guardian

“The Toddlers bag is an amalgamation of clever and smooth jazz styles - big band, swing, lounge - implemented with a demented rock band’s set-up and ideologies, a love of big riffs, grooves and technical embellishments. It’s a big music which is high on storytelling and good-time fun. There’s no real properly contemporary reference points but you can’t fail to recognise an influence of the world of Mike Patton, whether it’s coming out of the vocal stylings or in the hints of Mr Bungle in the music. There’s perhaps hints of Patton’s label’s Tango Saloon in its keyboard-led exotica but the modern references don’t strike to the heart of the music, and it’s not just a Patton template, though he’d probably appreciate all of the components making up the finished product. There’s heavy doses of the grooves and adventurousness of Prince; the upbeat experiments of Zappa, embracing the cheese while picking it apart; and the vocals and swinging sounds are indebted to the pre-60’s bar rooms, cocktail lounges and cabaret circles: Picture this, you’re at a casino and your lucks in, you’re smiling, and a diamante riff hits in with some avid crooning, a groove enters and your nights just hit the big time. That’s 12 Stone Toddler, though not all the time. At other points gypsy jams take over from energetic late-60s French soundtracks, the big band riff could be accompanied by rhythmic speak-singing, soaring melodical heights, deep, loving booms or harsh shouts, and there’s always the knowledge that at any point storming distortion might well turn the whole fairytale into a nightmare.”

Phil Hoile - Zap Bang Magazine

“If Willy Wonka (the real, insane, Gene Wilder Willy Wonka, not Johnny Depp’s Jacko-esque pale imitation) were to switch production from outlandish confectionary to outlandish records, 12 Stone Toddler would be his first signings. ‘The Rabbit’ sounds like a scary enchanted fairground coming to life after dark - honks of brass ride the carousel, the rhythm section smashes up the Hall of Mirrors, and vocalist Chris Otero freaks out everything else on the Ghost Train with his tales of newly discovered magic powers.

If Top of the Pops was still around, 12 Stone Toddler would be prime fodder for a watershed moment, delighting kids and shocking grannies across the country with their spectacular brand of asylum-pop. As it is, they’ll just have to settle for becoming megastars - while bathing in a river of chocolate, of course.”

Tara Mulholland - Click Music

“Playing under the banner of Brighton’s Finest the 12 Stone Toddler weighed in at the scales, came out fighting fit and proceeded to startle the audience with a well-crafted stage show that showcased their brilliant amalgamation of twisted fairground tunes, acid-fried rock, and jumpin’ jive which were given an even wider canvas thanks to the ample size of the stage, enabling them the freedom to express and get down to business even more than usual.

A rare gig for them, they are nevertheless about to embark on an assault on the eyes and ears of the Great British Public, beginning with their debut single, ‘The Rabbit’, which is typical of many 12 Stone tunes - a bouncy bass and drum dynamic, an overall sound that sometimes veers towards ‘metal’ but which has the sublime Frank Zappa - esque hard and funk-rock rhythms at its heart. And judging by the rapturous applause they received (despite the difficult acoustics of the venue), and the engaging showmanship and musical skill of lead singer/bassist Chris Otero and keyboard wizard Ben Jones in particular, they surely will get the attention they deserve. In this music-rich city of ours, they are definitely one of Brighton’s finest.”

The Old Market, 9 June

“Totally original and joyously impossible to categorise - and boy did they blow the audience away.”

The Argus, Brighton

“With wry smiles and more than an ounce of irony this Brighton four piece master a crunchy originality which is irrepressible.”

This Is Brighton

“The most energetic band I’ve heard in years.”

Vale Earth Website

“Toddlers are often seen as cute dribbly and befuddling but ultimately with the tendency to cause destruction and this four piece certainly fill the nappy.”

Vale Earth Fair Newsletter

“Showbiz razzamatazz high octane cartoonery and acid drenched rock. Think Zappa meets Waits meets Morricone.”

Brighton Live