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 »

POST-PUNK OFF, A COMPETITION

RULES: A sister-competition to the "Con VS Unique Emo Crown". Two competitors rec 30 albums, 1 at a time, to 3 judges. A new round of recs will be presented once all three judges have finished rating/listening to both albums. This will continue until a total of 30 albums will be presented, 15 from each competitor. Winner will be determined by the highest AVG but tie breaker will be whoever had the best rec and each judge gets 1 vote for that.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NEW RULE: Competitors who fail to submit their recs within 1 day after each list's creation will have .5 deducted from their score for EACH day late ____JUDGES: Conmaniac, DeadlyNightShade, neekafat_____ COMPETITORS: UniqueUniverse, Tyler.,teamster_______ EMO COMPETITION: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?mode=1&listid=176039#comments
1Echo and The Bunnymen
Ocean Rain

UniqueUniverse's rec
Con: With Ocean Rain, E&tB showcase their ability to induce dream-like 80s pop atmospheres while inducing this fairytale-esque feeling. Thusly, the guitar tones are fantastic and are only enhanced by the string ensemble, yet due to the vocals (which aren’t my style) and the lack of the bass in the mix, the songs feel underwhelming. While there are 2 or 3 pretty blatantly bland tracks, the rest never seem to dip above or below the 3-4 range, making it a 3.2/5.

Track Ratings: Silver 3.5, Nocturnal Me 3.7, Crystal Days 3.6, The Yo Yo Man 3.9, Thorn of Crowns 3.5, The Killing Moon 4.0, Seven Seas 2.5, My Kingdom 2.9, Ocean Rain 3.7.
AVG: 3.2/5
2Echo and The Bunnymen
Ocean Rain

Neeka: Despite an occasional dichotomy between the vocals and the music, there’s a nice variety in the sounds presented. There’s a sense of power in “Nocturnal Me” that can’t be found elsewhere. It goes between being sickly sweet and strangely menacing in a way that feels surprisingly natural. The atmosphere is deep and feels modern, especially considering its age. If I had to come up with an elaborate metaphor to symbolize my feelings for it, it’s like having an extremely pleasant and enlightening conversation with a stranger, and you exchange phone numbers but you’re not really sure whether you’ll ever bother talking to them again. 3.7/5

Track ratings: (+ or - account for possible future variation) Silver: 7.5 -, Nocturnal Me: 8.5 -, Crystal Days: 7 +, The Yo-Yo Man: 7.5 +, Thorn of Crowns: 8 -, The Killing Moon: 8 +, Seven Seas: 7.5 +, My Kingdom: 7 -, Ocean Rain: 7.5 +
3Echo and The Bunnymen
Ocean Rain

Deadly: Ocean Rain is one of the easiest listens, it breezes by. In my eyes this is both a pro and a con. This album lacks a certain punch that I feel is rooted in its lack of bass in the mix. Basslines such as the one present in Thorn of Crowns are watered down and low in audability that you can’t fully appreciate it. Although there is a lack of punch from sometimes uneven mixing, there are some impressive guitar melodies with wonderful vocal work that are accentuated by powerful lyricism. I feel that if the mixing had been more balanced I would have enjoyed this much more. 3.5/5
4The Durutti Column
LC

Tyler.'s rec

Con: This can best be described as post rock post punk and/or the unmodernized version of dream pop. Vocals are still very 80s post punk despite the experimental production, but the instrumentation is so dreary, cloudy, and unique for the time period that it is very impressive to think it was made in 1981. Last few tracks dragged on a bit, hence the score but Never Known is an amazing, almost psych-y sounding track and is def my favorite on the album. 4/5

Track Ratings: Sketch for Dawn I 4.1, Portrait for Frazer 3.6, Jaqueline 3.3, Messidor 4, Sketch for a Dawn II 3.8, Never Known 4.5, The Act Committed 3.5, Detail for Paul 3.2, The Missing Boy 3.7, The Sweet Cheat Code 3.1
AVG: 3.7/5
5The Durutti Column
LC

Neeka: A dreamy, pleasant listen overall. The full sound and vibrant instrumentation never betray its age -- this could have been released yesterday instead of 1981 for all I know. It’s wrapped in darkness and melancholy but it never feels oppressive; indeed, it’s almost comforting to an extent. It’s a blissful if slightly indulgent (i.e. “Detail for Paul”) listening experience, and you’ll probably catch me recommending it to someone sooner or later. 4.1/5

Track Ratings: Sketch for Dawn I: 8.5 +, Portrait for Frazer: 8 -, Jaqueline: 8 +, Messidor: 8.5 - , Sketch for Dawn: II 8.5 -, Never Known: 9 -, The Act Committed: 8 +, Detail for Paul: 7.5 +, Missing Boy: 8 +, The Sweet Cheat Code: 7 +
6The Durutti Column
LC

Deadly: Upon beginning the epic journey that is LC, there a sense of dream-esque whimsy that carries the listener away in a rather euphoric manner. The feelings expressed musically bring me back to a time when I tried to learn astral projection. Bringing you to a whole world that is both a reality and a dream all at once. The instrumentals are often entrancing while encompassing you in an atmosphere the never really loses it’s grip. A fantastic voyage throughout ,which only really lacks because of a lack of vocals, albeit this is a personal opinion. I do think vocals are what bring me back to an album. 4.1/5
7This Social Coil
After The Day Before

teamster's rec
Con: Quite possibly the most consistent album for a multitude of reasons. After the Day Before is an album rooted in a dark, life-sucking atmosphere and every track contributes to this feeling, despite some slight variance between tracks. When This Social Coil goes all out instrumental shoegaze, it works best due to their mastery in maintaining this post punk aesthetic mixed with a shoegazey filter. However, this album takes a lot out of you to listen to and seems to drag on, but it is so hard to fault them for it when that almost seems to be the goal. 3.6/5

Track Ratings: Amnesia 3.7, Deep 3.5, Black White Voice 3.4, Shining Target 3.8, Voices 3.5, Somewhere in December 3.6, Terra Corvi 3.7, Stop This Game 3.7, This Mountain Too High 3.6
AVG: 3.6/5
8This Social Coil
After The Day Before

Neeka: The album thrives on its beautiful instrumentals and musical prowess. While most of the tracks are long in the tooth, it more than makes up for this with the constantly changing structure and sweeping scope. However, later tracks tend to be more repetitive and structureless, and the vocals are definitely a weak point. There’s always a feeling that they’re coming from just a slightly higher place than the average local indie band. As Con said, the album really is incredibly consistent. Even tracks such as “Somewhere in December” that recycle older sounds and the redundant “Terra Corvi” don’t bring the album down by much, and even the impressive closer doesn’t hit the mark as perfectly as it could. All in all, it’s a modest 3.7/5.

Track Ratings: Amnesia 7.5 +, Deep 8 -, Black White Voice: 8 +, Shining Target: 7.5 -, Voices: 7.5 +, Somewhere in December: 7 +, Terra Corvi: 7 -, Stop This Game: 7 +, This Mountain Too High: 8 -
9This Social Coil
After The Day Before

Deadly: On After the Day Before, The Social Coil seem to focus on creating a brooding atmosphere that manages to perform its purpose, however, this may not always be beneficial to the listener. Songs tend to drag out a bit farther than necessary and lead to a feeling of emptiness by how downtrodden they tend to carry on. As whole the album tends to feel repetitive. As Neeka mentioned, tracks like “Terra Corvi” tend to seem unnecessary in inclusion on the album. This repetitiveness, I feel is deeply rooted in the fact that once the vocals are stripped away to solely instrumentation we are left with repetitive structures that never really surprise or change in any grand way. This record succeeds in it ability to create a feeling of solemnity but at what cost? I can’t help but grapple with if I enjoy it or if I want to put it away… For this reason I’m left sort of in the middle, but could not justify a low score as there are definitely some impressive things going on. 3.5/5
Show/Add Comments (270)

STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy