glonn wrote:Thanks for all of the suggestions. I got Communication and Conviction. I listened all the way through the first time and it has been coming up on shuffle mode for that past couple of weeks. I don't know if I am qualified to make a complete review yet but here goes anyway.
For the most part I like the album. I appreciated the instrumentation and the intensity of the playing. The originals are good and I enjoy the selection of covers. Finnegan's Wake is fantastic. However, there was something that was bugging me about the Tossers. I figured it out a few days ago. Tony Duggins cannot sing. To me Duggins sounds like the guy from New Order. I always thought that he couldn't sing either but I was told that that was the appeal to some people. Whatever. To my ears whenever Becca Manth starts singing it is like a breath of fresh air which leads me to believe that Tony's voice is subtly grating.
The big caveat here is that Tossers are NOT the kind of band that has hooks and other tricks that makes their music easily digestable but ultimately a hollow experince. Rather, their sound is one that might take a while to get used to. When that time comes the listener will understand the depth of the tunes and they will endure. This is how I feel about a very obscure and defunct band called Rites of Spring who were a local DC favorite back in the mid-1980's. Their music was not melodic at all, it was noisy, chaotic, and unfamilliar. It was impossible for me to listen to for an extended lenght of time but after a few months I loved it and their music endures (to my ears) today.
I will keep on listening and will look forward to the day when my ears get used to Duggins voice. Thanks again for the suggestions.
You got to keep in mind that it was what the band sounded like at their very beginning. Listen to their following albums, you'll find that Tony sounds very different on those ones. He has a very energetic voice that can go from one extreme to another very easily. He's far better than on the CD you got.
