GOTH BEACH
“THE FEEL-GOTH HIT OF THE SUMMER” Vanyaland

Boston based Walter Sickert & The Army of
Broken Toys make a splash with their new summertime anthem ‘Goth Beach’!
 
Goth Beach
is a rumpus, rock-art soiree that is one-part Beach Blanket Bingo, one part
Rock Lobster, and equal parts black eyeliner, angst, and the
magical-rainbow-feel-good-positivity that emanates from everything Walter Alice
Sickert & The Toys create.   

The song
declares ownership of the beach for all and beckons to all of the beautiful
misfits and weirdos of the world to get their “nail polish on”  put their
“parasols up” and:
 
        	        	        	        	        	“Come and find me
At the Goth Beach
You’ll never be lonely
At the Goth Beach Yeah!”
 
Surf’s up! Grab your SPF 666, hit the sand, and hang ten with
Satan because all bodies are Goth Beach Bodies!

Goth Beach

GOTH BEACH

04/05/2014 is the 20 year anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.

Today is a hard day for Cobain fans, it's the day he died and the day a million people complain that he was just a worthless junkie.

I've always loved "Something in the Way", which was written about a time when Kurt was homeless. I lived in my car for a year, driving around when I could afford gas, mooching food from friends, listening to music until my battery was almost dead.

My grandmother bought me my first Nirvana album which was a bootleg from a show. They were one of the 1st bands to inspire me to bang on my acoustic guitar until my fingers bled and my voice gave out. Making music, not caring about genre, or perception, but singing from that place, that hole that you have that can never really be filled.

Love & Tentacles

- WS

"At this point I have a request for our fans. If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us -- leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records." 
Love,

Kurt (the blonde one)

Photo of me by Amandacera Hannon

Something In The Way - a cover by Walter Sickert

Boston’s High Priest of Rock, and his band - Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOys - conjure new chaos on Come Black Magic.


Magic Friday, September 9, 2016 at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA with special guests, Ruby Rose Fox and Mount Peru.

http://www.armyoftoys.com for tickets

Inspiration of Come Black Magic lives in love, nightmares, the horror movies of the 70s & 80s, malicious deep forests, ghost swamps, mysterious Lovecraftian ceremonies, Salvador Dalí, The Muppets, Salem witch trials, the burning times, the American nightmare of institutionalized racism, the patriarchy, and the fear of those that are supposed to protect us - all mixed up in a cauldron and slathered on like a protection spell.

 
Walter Sickert has been called the Dr. Teeth of the current generation, infusing soulful vocals reminiscent of George Clinton and Tom waits into a beautifully gritty and sweet living nightmare of horror rock.

Walter’s influence for Come Black Magic spans genres from Nina Simone, Nine Inch Nails, Bjork, and The Doors, to Kendrick Lamar, Nick Cave, and Wu-Tang.

Mixed with the sound The Army of Toys have crafted over the life of the band, Come Black Magic is meant to be a fun and bizarre Willie Wonka-style boat ride through the underworld with a crew of diverse and talented performers who are just your average gender-queer-Muppets next door.

Come Black Magic

Come Black Magic - Single

A preview track off of Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOy's new album Soft Time Traveler which is out 4/16/13

If you're in Boston on 3/23 - you should come to our local CD release for Soft Time Traveler INFO HERE -> http://www.facebook.com/events/323144954456550/

Droog And Devotchka

A track off our new album the Soft Time Traveler - due out 4/16/13

If you're in Boston on 3/23 - you should come to our local CD release for Soft Time Traveler INFO HERE -> http://www.facebook.com/events/323144954456550/

Devils In The Details

Off the album Soft Time Traveler - out 4/16/13

If you're in Boston on 3/23 - you should come to our local CD release for Soft Time Traveler INFO HERE -> http://www.facebook.com/events/323144954456550/

Survive Song Bird

"We turn reality inside out."

Walter Sickert & The ARmy of BRoken TOys are the spinners of a charming, demented fairy tale that gathers new characters all the time. At the heart of the colorful fantasy is Walter Sickert, the writer, ringleader and conjurer.

The name of the band came to Walter in a dream.  He had been living in a haunted barn in the woods of New Hampshire and would often record very late at night. During one of these sessions on a mid-winter’s eve, he fell asleep curled under a pile of broken porcelain dolls. The dolls kept him warm and infiltrated his dream, marching as a musical army and finishing the recording he was working on, much like the elves in the tale of the shoemaker. Upon waking Walter realized that the song he had been working on was indeed finished and embarked on a journey to find real life broken toys to join him in his musical alchemy.

The first to join The ARmy of BRoken TOys was Edrie, an accordionist from a North Dakota farm. The two, brought together initially by sadness were soon making music so powerful that more broken toys flocked to them. They brought talent of all shapes and sizes:  Rachel Jayson, a conservatory-trained violist who conducts several orchestras; Meff, a playwright and mandolin player,  is always mentally writing the next play; jojo, the Burlesque Poetess, writes poetry and teaches ukulele at the Passim School of music; TJ, the gravel-voiced punk and hardcore drummer; and Mike Leggio whose upright bass has taken him all over the world. Add to this a troop of thirty-six performance artists who bring contortion, burlesque, and aerial performance to The ARmy of BRoken TOys’ arsenal.

Walter lives as a conduit for art of any kind. Music, illustration, video - his ideas are like Jack's magic beans - fast-growing and irresistible. “Walter is one of the most prolific and easily flowing artists that I’ve ever worked with,” Rachel Jayson says of his astounding output. “Songs just kind of pour out of his face and his body.” The ARmy of BRoken TOys takes Walter’s handiwork and filters it, developing music that is influenced by everyone. The results have been described as a “Dada-esque circus carnival run amuck,” by Boston Survival Guide.

While Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOys can create mayhem anywhere, they’ve found the perfect workplace to hone their craft. The WIREFOREST sits atop a steep hill overlooking the city and the ocean. “The studio where Walter makes his art, is painted entirely black and when the lights are off the room seems to expand outwards as if you were in the middle of a black hole,” says Edrie of the space. The band has recorded countless hours of music in the WIREFOREST’s upstairs studio.

It was therefore important, when the band chose to record their latest album, Soft Time Traveler (due out April 16) outside their home studio, to find a place with a similar spirit. Enter Watch City Studios in Waltham, MA, where Walter and the rest of the BRoken TOys found a homey collection of odd antiques including a functioning wax cylinder player and vintage victorian embalming paraphernalia. “It was exactly like walking into a museum of the inside of Walter’s head,” says Edrie. “With the added benefit of the same soundboard that Thriller was recorded on.” The album is frenetic yet melodic, and sounds like an exorcism by Lewis Carroll.

Whether live or in album form, Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOys will transport you to a realm where imagination rules, and sound is alive.  You may not sleep tight, but your dreams will be like none you've ever experienced.

Droog And Devotchka

ArmyOfToys