Tommy Tokyo & Starving For My Gravy - Smear Your Smiles Back On

Maybe it’s a Norwegian music thing. There’s their dodgy annual Eurovision pop entries, their eccentric trance and of course their infamous church burning related black metal scene. Of course it would be wrong to be as shallow as to assume all Norwegian music is bizarrely inclined, but joining its weirder side are the absurdly named Tommy Tokyo & Starving For My Gravy. 

In all seriousness, Scandinavia has given us some fantastic pop acts. Just for example, A-Ha are of course Norwegian whilst its neighbouring countries have given us the all time greats ABBA and, much more recently, the popular Alphabeat. It’s just Tommy Tokyo & Starving For My Gravy don’t fit into that type of category, or appeal to any sort of wide audience.

There are times during latest album ‘Smear Your Smiles Back On’ where you just wonder what the hell is going on, and not in a good way. Not even the band’s name makes any sense! Quite often on certain tracks it appears there’s no real logical sense within Tommy Tokyo’s lyrics and, to be blunt, it comes across as aimless jabbering. It’s not that there is no actual meaning to them, it’s just they are so ambiguous and puzzling that to the listener, even if they are actually trying to make sense, they are too abstract. Of course it can be referred to as poetic licence, but sounding all over the place musically as well, very few people will ‘get it’. 

‘Smear Your Smiles Back On’ is clearly a unique and personal work of artistic vision by Tommy Tokyo and his band, with each song sounding individual and different. The emotive acoustic ballad ‘Long Road Home’ is the only accessible track and a break from the surrounding obscurity. ‘The Circle Must Be Broken’ has some amusing novelty about it, but it’s quick to wear thin. Because the tracks are based within such a boxed up creativity and point of view, it alienates its audience at times. Also, because it is so cultural in many ways, it almost has its back to the British and American influence that dominates the musical landscape. Obviously, the band wants its music to reach out to a wider audience, but it may as well be sung in their native tongue for the ambiguity of it all.

It should be noted the album does stand out from the all too monotonous and often predictable nature of the charts. But, many other bands attempt this with better results. Structurally, their closest comparisons are Arcade Fire, who do it much more successfully.

Despite all this, they have a popularity in their native Norway, receiving top reviews. Much like some of our bands that struggle to make a name anywhere but here, perhaps Tommy Tokyo & Starving For My Gravy fit the same description. Although, they might even be forgotten in their homeland in a few years.

Reviewed by Peter Angell

Thursday 30th April 2009

Add our RSS Feed to your news Service!