Walter Sickert & The Army Of Broken Toys – “Keep My Head”
Walter Sickert & The Army Of Broken Toys – “Keep My Head” – Single Review
Ayyyyy…remind me again, who’s been actively saying that Boston is becoming one of the best sources of all-things-Rock for the past several years here? Was it lil’ old me? It just might have been…
I absolutely freakin’ love this new single from Walter Sickert & The Army Of Broken Toys. Every so often, you come across one of those tunes where you can tell within mere seconds that it’s probably gonna be something you won’t be able to get enough of, and as the array of instrumentation started up with the Viola from Rachel Jayson, I knew I was gonna be in for something great with “Keep My Head.” As they launched into a more all-inclusive brand of Indie/Alt-Rock, with the incredible vocals of Walter leading the way into the madness, I found everything I was hoping for & then some. This band has got a tremendous amount of personality and creativity combined, fantastic players, and a level of execution that proves they can follow their wildest instincts and fully achieve the vision of their ideas. Which is saying a lot when it comes right down to it…you’ll hear “Keep My Head” and recognize that there’s a lot to the DNA of a track like this, and to hear them pull this off as flawlessly as they have is a testament to their abilities. The steady pound of the percussion from Matt Zappa with the other half of the rhythm section in Mike Leggio’s bass being equally reliable, the backing vocals from Mary Widow and Edrie are freakin’ perfection in supporting Walter’s increasingly intense lead, and all the details you could hope to find in the background of the music are there too – “Keep My Head” is a genuine modern masterpiece.
What I was completely surprised to find was that this single is apparently about “the joys of cunnilingus” – and even after reading the lyrics, I ain’t gonna lie, that is still flying right over my head somehow. There is always a chance that it’s a clever promotional line in the press release meant to catch our attention and see who’s actually listening…but aside from the main chorus hooks, I felt like there was precious little that would have supported what the main concept was purported to be. Which in itself is interesting to me…I would have initially thought that “Keep My Head” was much more of a commentary on our non-stop use of technology and how that’s affected our lives, and I think there are a whole lot of lyrics that support that theory. So then we have to ask ourselves – what actually dictates what a song is about? Does a song have to be about one thing specifically? Can it be about many things? Is it always about what the writers intend, or does a concept become public domain after it’s released to our own interpretations? Can a single line in chorus dictate what a song is about? If the hooks are the most memorable part of a song, does that give that part the right to claim it’s what the whole concept is? Does a whole song need to be about one thing entirely to be considered cohesive? Am I just not getting it personally? Do I truly know nothing of cunnilingus? What if this song warped my ability to think? It’s all a neat conversation to have, even if I’m just having it with myself as I’m sitting here thinking out loud…
I also had to look up the word ‘cathode’ – that was a new one for me, and certainly the first time I can recall hearing it in a song. In the world according to Google, that’s a “negatively charged electrode by which electrons enter an electrical device” – and I’ll let you figure out how that plays a role in the realm of cunnilingus, because I’m sure your theories would be just as good or better than mine would be. I’m probably in the camp that would argue a song can be multi-faceted in its theme…not all the time perhaps, but in this case…I mean…it is about more than just cunnilingus, isn’t it? If it’s not, I’m likely in need of a repeat of all my old sex-ed classes, and I’d assume I owe my wife an apology of some kind for my lack of understanding all that comes with the art. All that being said, all I’ve ever claimed to know anything about at all is what sounds good, and “Keep My Head” sounds freakin’ GREAT to me – in fact, I’d probably go as far as to say it’s one of the most addictive singles I’ve heard in 2023. Which speaks to the fact that we don’t always need to completely understand what something is about to know that we love it…and that’s a good thing when it comes to songwriting, because most of us listeners never have a clue about what any tune is really about anyway. If Walter’s the one saying “Keep My Head” is about cunnilingus, who would any of us be to dispute that? It sure does open up the door to a whole lot of conversations, whether it’s about the intended subject matter, or the art of songwriting itself, and I dig that – Walter Sicker & The Army Of Broken Toys should too. I had an absolute riot listening to this song, and the video is just as wild as you’d want to see something visually supporting a single like this – like, the ass smashing the cake for instance…LOVE IT! They put this oddly renaissance idea together that gives “Keep My Head” yet another layer of potential meaning to it…more of a macabre spin on its main theme…like you could preserve and use a head as a functional sex-device, long after its been detached from the shoulders it once came on, you feel me? I’ll admit, there’s a whole lot of ‘did I just hear what I thought I heard’ in the song, and just as much ‘did I just see what I thought I saw’ in the video – and even though I might not be entirely sure that I caught it all, I’m here for it all the same. “Keep My Head” is spectacularly addictive in all the right ways and will keep you coming back for more in more ways than one. This is definitely a band you’ll wanna keep an eye & an ear on after checking out this single, 100%.
Find out more about Walter Sickert & The Army Of Broken Toys at their official website: https://www.armyoftoys.com
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