ZombieToyDuck
Josh F.
User

Reviews 10
Approval 98%

Soundoffs 20
News Articles 12
Band Edits + Tags 41
Album Edits 77

Album Ratings 1093
Objectivity 62%

Last Active 12-17-18 3:10 pm
Joined 08-25-16

Review Comments 7,203

 Lists
01.27.20 ZombieToyDuck's Belated 201901.07.19 24 Recs to Reach 1000 *FILLED*
12.26.18 Sleep Deprivation Saviors12.20.18 ZTD's 2018 Songs of the Year
12.18.18 ZombieToyDuck's 2018 AOTY list11.08.18 My Tentative AOTY List
10.23.18 2018 Bass Grooves10.08.18 Album Listening To Do List: Part 1
10.05.18 A Star is Born Analysis10.03.18 Just ZombieCasualConversations: October ♦
09.26.18 Convince Me to Cram 201808.06.18 A Guide to Junji Ito (Links Added) ♦
07.05.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition...FINA06.20.18 Beers of the States
06.19.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition Round 06.14.18 Future Classic Bands You Should Check
06.06.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition Round 05.31.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition Round
More »

Convince Me to Cram 2018

So neeka started a cram list idea, but I thought a spin on it would be refreshing. Therefore, rec me an album from 2018 and ONE song that will convince me to check the album as a whole. If I enjoy it I'll jam the album and give a brief synopsis of my thoughts. If not I'll rate the track and give my thoughts anyhow. 3 RECS PER PERSON, must score a 3.5 to get a full album listen.
1Ben Howard
Noonday Dream

neekafat
Nica Libres at Dusk
This has a real chill and laid back feel to it while still maintaining an underlying catchiness. The outro was also really lovely. I feel like this will hook me in the more I play it. Count me in for a listen! 4.2/5 ✓✓
2Idles
Joy as an Act of Resistance

neekafat
Colossus
I really like the instrumentals here but I'm definitely not sold on the vocals. They're very expressive but not particularly fond of his tonal quality. Ugh I wanna like this but I can't get past the vocals... Gunna have to pass on this unfortunately... I may swing back to it eventually. 3.2/5 ✖
3The Republic of Wolves
Shrine

neekafat
Bask
Now these vocals I can really get behind and I love how that main riff is simplistic yet highly memorable. The melodies here are really lovely and I could totally see this being a regular jam for me. Yessirrrr gunna give this a go. 4/5 ✓
4Damien Jurado
The Horizon Just Laughed

PapaUniverse
1973
This was a touching listen with some very honest vocals that poured plenty of emotion over the acoustic melody and twinkly chiming that gently caressed the backdrop of this wonderful track. I really loved this, most definitely giving this a go. 4.8/5 ✓✓✓
5L.A. Salami
The City Of Bootmakers

PapaUniverse
England is Unwell
The ways this just nods along so merrily along with it's bright piano trills, upbeat acoustic guitar and the intricate flourishes of maracas and overlapping vocal melodies is something special. Really picked me up as I was feeling fairly tired today. Really joyful listen and would love some more of this. 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
6Parquet Courts
Wide Awake

PapaUniverse
Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience: 4.1/5 ✓ EDIT: 4.5/5 (this track grew on me)
Album Thoughts: This is ridiculously well written in terms of songwriting. It's just funky, energetic and has so many catchy and entertaining moments that keep this refreshing throughout the album's entirety. PLUS IT GROOVES HARD. I haven't enjoyed a punk record this much in a long time. 4.6/5
Favorites: Total Football, Almost Had to Start a Fight/ In and Out Of Patience, Freebird II, Normalization, Extinction, Wide Awake
7Red Lama
Motions

Divaman
Perfect Strangers
Hell yeah! This bass riff could have just kept on going and I would be perfectly okay with it. Vocals here are really enjoyable too they glide by effortlessly and these melodies are so damn nice. I love the added random instrumental flourishes from tambourine, to bongos, and even organ (synth?). Either way this was really killer stuff 4.3/5 ✓✓
8Of Montreal
White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood

Divaman
Paranoic Intervals/Body Dysmorphia 5/5 ✓✓✓
Album Thoughts: This had a really spacey, other-worldly atmosphere that I found particularly fascinating. The grooves on this thing are so bouncy and the beats are simple but really leave room for the other elements to shine. I also read this was on purpose to bring continuity to the album which it really works on that regard. The vocals were also refreshingly unique add had just the right amount of expressive qualities. I found myself hooked in. 4.6/5
Favorites: Hard to pick honestly, nothing I didn't love here.
9Chvrches
Love Is Dead

Divaman
Graffiti
Wait, didn't this album have like a 2.5 average? The hell... This is a very catchy and memorable electronic track with some great vocals. Love the atmosphere here as well. Yeah this definitely deserves some investigation. 4.2/5 ✓✓
10Earth Groans
Rahab

tyman128
Avarice
A nice enough heavy track, definitely had the energy and riffs albeit a bit generic at times. Hell its only an EP though I'll give this a go. Plus that ending was sweet. 3.7/5 ✓
11Clamfight
III

tyman128
Selkie
This has a sludgy slow trodding vibe to it, which kinda hinder this for me tbh... I can never fully grasp onto slow going metal tracks, I lose interest. Plus the vocals didn't do a heck of a lot for me here. The ending was a picked this up a bit here though, enough for me to not totally discredit it. This is by no means bad but it's not something I can see myself enjoying for the course of an album. Sorry buddy. 3.1/5 ✖
12Tropical Fuck Storm
A Laughing Death in Meatspace

SteakByrnes
Soft Power
This was slow going but had so much wacky background noise shit going on that it had no problem keeping my interest regardless. Vocals are passable though I wasn't thrilled by them honestly. They may grow though and I can't deny the craziness of this atmosphere and these instrumentals are wild. 3.8/5 ✓
13Royal Coda
Royal Coda

SteakByrnes
Cut Me Under
Oh shit this is that new Kurt Travis band, been meaning to give this a whirl. This was a great blend of moody and soulful outings with energetic and technical instrumentals as well. I loved the solo too, was sooooo damn tasty. 4.3/5 ✓✓
14Owane
yeah whatever

SteakByrnes
Love Juice 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
Album Thoughts: Some great funky jams and the album's generally relaxed vibe make this a thoroughly enjoyable listen to put in the background of my day to day nonsense. This album does jazz fusion just right and my only really complaint is that not a whole lot jumps out at me as spectacular. However, a great album nonetheless 4.2/5
Favorites: They are all pretty much on par so yeah give it a go!
15The Bamboos
Night Time People

bgillesp
Stranded 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
This had such a pleasant tone all around and had me bobbing my head the entire time. The soulful female vocals with great range and the jazzy instrumentals are so well done here. I loved the horns, piano and bass grooves. I felt that literally every single melody here brought something new to the table. I don't feel like The Bamboos ever really lost their momentum as the album went on either. It's got a real classic sound to it as well that I imagine would sound lovely on vinyl too. I did find the fact that broken was done 3 diffent times with different guests totally unnecessary though. 4.4/5
Favorites: Lit Up, Standed, Night Time People, San Junipero
16Rainbow Kitten Surprise
How to: Friend, Love, Freefall

bgillesp
It's Called: Free Fall
Eh honestly this kinda breezed by in the bad kind of way. Nothing really latched itself onto me and held me long enough to catch interest in it. Decent melody and vocals are okay but other than that I just didn't find this too interesting. Can't say this was something that I'll check this, sorry dude. 3/5 ✖
17Nekrogoblikon
Welcome to Bonkers

bgillesp
Darkness
I listened to No One Survives awhileeee back and really liked it and forgot to check these guys out, so this was cool to see they had something new. Turns out they started incorporating some clean singing eh? I like the addition it definitely helps. The riffs are fun here and I really like the melodies in the background. Good fun, sounds like something I can get behind. 3.9/5 ✓
18Frontierer
Unloved

ButtBoy
Heartless 101 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
Album Thoughts: Oh man... This was a HUGE let down. Unfortunately Frontierer fail to diversify their chaos enough to hold my interest here. Aside from Heartless 101, Electric Gag and Neon Barnacle the rest of this is so homogenous and unnecessarily lengthy for absolutely no reason.... I honestly feel this album could be cut in half and I'd enjoy it wayyyy more. However, as it is, this album just left me disappointed as hell... 2.6/5
Favorites: The three I mentioned are your worthwhile listens!
19Car Seat Headrest
Twin Fantasy

BlazinBlitzer
Bodys
This was fairly enjoyable, there's catchy songwriting and a generally upbeat listen. I do think the length of the song was a bit arduous seemed like it could have wrapped in like 3 minutes rather than almost 7. I like this but I don't know this didn't really shake me up, the vocals didn't vary enough and weren't enticing me. However, this will just make the mark as I see potential for this to grow. 3.5/5 ✓
20Typhoon (USA-OR)
Offerings

BlazinBlitzer
Ariadne
I had tried a track from this when it was first released and didn't care for it, this was a bit better though. My real qualm here is the vocals kinda grate on me and don't hold my attention that well. The instrumentals are solid enough and the atmosphere was solid, but that also wasn't anything that a lot for me. 3.2/5 ✖
21Hop Along
Bark Your Head Off, Dog

BlazinBlitzer
Prior Things
Ahhhh here we go Blitzer, this I can reallllly jive with. Some great grooves, catchy guitars and the female vocals are soooo good. The violin was a really nice touch to the sound here and I love the pep of this. The way the elements all come together just works marvelously. 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
22Israel Nash
Lifted

LeftyMcRighty
Rolling On
This had a really old school rock vibe, like a folk version of Led Zeppelin with a melancholy and shimmery glow. I appreciate that and I love what goes on here. The vocals have a really folk vibe and I love the twinkly segments, backing vocals and the guitar at the end was fantastic. Definitely a killer vibe here. 4.1/5 ✓✓
23The Pineapple Thief
Dissolution

LeftyMcRighty
Uncovering Your Tracks 3.6/5 ✓
Album Thoughts: This was mellow listen with some really tight prog-rock instrumentals. This is like a more mellow version of tool with vocals that are also fairly similar to Maynard's more calm vocals. There were some really lovely bass melodies and the drum work has just the right amount of attention to detail. 3.9/5
Favorites: Threatening War, Pillar of Salt, White Mist
24Circles
The Last One

LeftyMcRighty
Arrival
Getting a real Karnivool vibe here and considering how much I'm dying for new material from them this is really refreshing. I even like these vocals about as much as Ian Kenny's. The bass here is killer too, I love that tone. That end was satisfying as hell... this is great, how did I not hear about this? 4.6/5 ✓✓✓
25Mid-Air Thief
Crumbling

Frivolous
These Chains: 5/5 ✓✓✓
Album Thoughts: A masterful blend of folk and electronica with dazzling soundscapes that bubble and glisten with joyous momentum. The cascading crescendos, like the one Friv suggested, are the truly inspiring moments to look out for. That's not to say the quiet and peaceful moments don't carry the charm and beauty they need to succeed. For those who do give this a try, you can expect wispy melodies that reach for the sky as they soar to adventurous heights. 4.8/5
Favorites: These Chains, Gameun Deut, Curve and Light
26Alkaline Trio
Is This Thing Cursed?

onionbubs
Is This Thing Cursed?
This is like The Menzingers meets Bad Religion, I love it. Super catchy punk with great riffs, can't go wrong really. 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
27Fit For a King
Dark Skies

tyman128
Shattered Glass
Some pretty good screams here but overall pretty generic metalcore that does little to separate itself as unique. The rough singing bit was a nice breakup though. Ehh can't say I'm intrigued enough to jam this. 3.1/5 ✖
28Tribulation
Down Below

Dewinged
The Lament
Really enjoyed this one. The guitar work was awesome and I loved the melodies. Vocals were killer to boot and I really can't complain to much about anything going on. This was pretty damn catchy. 4.2/5 ✓✓
29The Body
I have fought against it, But I can’t any longer

Dewinged
The West Has Failed
Sludge... Let's see if this convinces me... Really interesting heavy reverb at the beginning but this gets super repetitive... do we have to do this for like 2 minutes?? Ughh yeah this ain't gunna do it for me... 2.8/5 ✖
30Emma Ruth Rundle
On Dark Horses

Dewinged
Darkhorse
Dark and moody with highly memorable female vocals, you got me Dewi, you got me 4.7/5 ✓✓✓
31U.S. Girls
In A Poem Unlimited

Papa Universe
Pearly Gates
Realllll catchy and I love this bassline. Vocals are wonderful as well. YUP YUP Papa you done good sir. 4.7/5 ✓✓✓
32Snail's House
L'été

SteakByrnes
Sunflower: 5/5 ✓✓✓
Album Thoughts: The underlying beats interlaced with the glistening piano melodies on this album make for some of the most marvelous musical textures I've heard this year. There's just enough organic moments to balance out the pristine and smooth production. The breaking glass in Vivid Green, the crowd talking in 秘密基地, the chimes in しゃぼん玉とあなたの夢 and the pouncing drums in Platonique are all marvelous examples of how to keep interest in a downtempo album of this nature. 4.6/5
Favorites: Vivid Green, Sunflower, Platonique and 秘密基地
33Tomberlin
At Weddings

Snake.
Tornado: 5/5 ✓✓✓
Album Thoughts: There's no doubt that Tomberlin has some of the best vocal chops I've heard in quite some time. The emotionally gripping lyrics traverse through pained memories and struggles of love now lost. The vocal range and control is what brings this release it's true staying power. Tomberlin's vocals cut like a blade over piano and acoustics that exist only to sharpen her lush singing which pierces with soul slicing prowess. 4.4/5
Favorites: I'm Not Scared, Tornado, Any Other Way
34Snail Mail
Lush

Snake.
Heat Wave
Yeah so snake just came in here and is stealing the show... this is sooooo good. I love the vocals and the instrumentals have a great punch to them. The melodies are so breezy and production on this is choice. This didn't even feel like 5 minutes I was enjoying it so much. 4.7/5 ✓✓✓
35Fiddlehead
Springtime And Blind

Snake.
Spousal Loss
This reminded me a lottt of Title Fight and I dig that because they haven't release anything like this since Floral Green. Thank you for filling that void for me! 4.2/5 ✓✓
36Manes
Slow Motion Death Sequence

LeftyMcRighty
Chemical Heritage
I liked instrumentals here but eek... those vocals aren't doing it for me one bit... sorry bud not feeling this 3/5 ✖
37Flying Horseman
Rooms/Ruins

Papa Universe
Deep Earth
A journey of melodies that slow build and layer atop one another with simplicity graves and a bit of punch, but just enough as not to overpower the listener. There's an effortlessly smooth transition between the melodies, varying without ever being too abrupt. Concise and minimal yet loaded with plenty of interesting sounds to digest. 4.3/5 ✓✓
38The Skull Eclipses
The Skull Eclipses

Papa Universe
Pillars
This was interesting, sort of tribal sound to it... but the vocalist sounds so much like Mike Shinoda, it kind of bothers me tbh... Instrumentally pretty interesting but wasn't too keen on the vocals really. This also could be cause I just haven't been in the mood for this sort of thing lately. Eh maybe I'll get to this at some point but not at the moment. 3.3/5 ✖
39Thornhill
Butterfly

SteakByrnes
Joy
A solid listen but didn't really strike me as much as I wanted it to. I came out a bit disappointed that the instrumentals didn't vary enough because I did enjoy the vocals a fair bit. This may be something ill come back to at some point but not for now. 3.3/5 ✖
40Allelic
The Smoke of Atavistic Fires

SowingSeason
In Blissful Ignorance
This is mindblowing... who knew you could merge vastly different styles of music, mood and atmospheres so cohesively? Allelic knew they could, that's for certain. This 10 minute massive offering could convince anyone just how grand this release is sure to be. It's clear they were looking to turn heads with this. 5/5 ✓✓✓
41Let's Eat Grandma
I'm All Ears

SowingSeason
Donnie Darko
I really enjoyed this, but the length here actually did seem a bit much. There are a fair bit of twist and turns as the track progresses though and this was a very calm and soothing listen. 3.9/5 ✓
42Shakey Graves
Can't Wake Up

SowingSeason
Dining Alone
Lovely guitar work and vocals I really caught myself enjoying make for a song that catches my attention. The melodies here have a positive jive to them and there's a dreamy quality that I found really relaxing. Definitely gunna check this 4.2/5 ✓✓
43Spectral wound
Infernal Decadence

bgillesp
Woods from Which the Spirits Once so Loudly Howled
A brutal black metal offering with incredibly dense songwriting and vicious screams with insanely fast riffage. This was deliciously insane. 4.7/5 ✓✓✓
44Khemmis
Desolation

bgillesp
Isolation
Loving the riffs and the solo in this was kickass. I'm not huge on the vocals but they are by no means bad either. I could see them growing with some further listening. Hmm my curiosity is peaked enough to jam this. 3.9/5 ✓
45Skeletonwitch
Devouring Radiant Light

Demon of the Fall
Fen of Shadows
The buildup to that first scream was satisfying as helllll. Loving the change of sound for these guys, it was much needed as the overly thrash-oriented sound turned me away when I last heard them. The riffs, drums and vocals here are all top notch. This got me pumped to hear more. 4.2/5 ✓✓
46Ex-Isles
Luxury Mass

anatelier
Run For the Porcelain Hills
The ethereal sound of this introduction had me hooked in from the beginning. I love the piano here and the vocals were so calming as well. The production is also undeniably pretty. The splashes of tambourine and horns in the middle of the track were a splendid touch as well. There's an almost eeriness underlying here that also had me really captivated. Yeah I'm definitely gunna check this! 4.5/5 ✓✓✓
47Many Rooms
There is a Presence Here

Hawks
There is a Presence Here
Moody and breezy with some nice piano and wispy vocals that float by. So relaxing and dreamy... save this for when I'm in the mood to wind down. 4.1/5 ✓
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