NEW FEELING

Tommy Tone
Finally Punk
Trashtronix
Vancouver, BC
RIYL: The Queen Haters; The Village People’s “Food Fight”; Pink Panther Punk

Tommy Tone has achieved the final state of subcultural metamorphosis, but its spirit was inside him all along. Decked out in his trademark neon windbreaker and shiny black mop, he pushes back against the punk police who want to dress him up in their costumes and pose him like a doll. Anyone who’s been sucked into the Tone Zone knows his forms of artistic expression are far less rigidly defined than the liberty spike brigade. On Finally Punk, his glittering synths and pumping drum machines have more in common with the genre-agnostic innovations that arrived after 1977, poking fun at the rock star mythos while reveling in theatrical performance. 

Those RIYLs at the top of this review share Tommy Tone’s belief that punk is a movement worth satirizing and celebrating in equal measure, yet he shares more sonic traits with Tuxedomoon or maybe even Chainmale. “They Tried To Make Me A Punk” is the album’s rallying cry, before he lets his guard down on the new wave love song, “She’s So Cool,” letting us know there is a sweetness behind the facade. He closes with an acquiescence to the power of caveman rock and roll, as ripping guitars and pounding drums propel “How Does The Mountain Die.” Near its conclusion, Tommy deadpans “I never wanted to have fun.” It’s hard to believe him with this level of commitment to the bit.      

– Jesse Locke