The Toms - Toms [Expanded] (CD)

All Music Guide

In the grand tradition of Richard X. Heyman, Jeff John Murphy, Tommy Keene and other pop obsessive of the 1970's and 80's, Tom Marolda was a guy from New Jersey with an elpee's worth of catchy tunes and the determination to see them put onto wax. Overdubbing himself into an efficient fourpiece backing ensemble, Tom cut twelve songs, pressed them up for release and, since he was the producer, engineer, drummer, guitarist, bassist and vocalist on the album, he chose an obvious name for his project The Toms. While Marolda's record only seemed to find its way into the hands of the most obsessive powerpop fans and recordcollector types, enough of them heard it (or heard about it) that The Toms became a cult favorite that fetched high prices at collectors shops and on eBay years after its original release in 1979. And not without reason The Toms rivals Black Vinyl Shoes, Richard X. Heyman's Living Room or Wanna Meet The Scruffs as a nearperfect document of new waveera power pop, with supe...rb hooks, great upbeat melodies, gloriously jangly guitar figures, topshelf selfexecuted harmonies, and energy to spare. From the moment "Let's Be Friends Again" bursts out of your speakers, anyone with a serious pop jones will be hooked, and the other eleven songs from the album's initial release are just as strong, especially "I Did The Wrong Thing", "The Door", "Other Boys Do" and "The Bear". The pop archivists at Not Lame Records gave this overlooked gem its CD debut in 1997, with seven more than worthy bonus tracks, but the 2005 reissue of their reissue is even better it includes a second disc of unissued material recorded in the years following the release of The Toms, and the good news is Tom Marolda still knows how to write a great pop song, and his studio skills have even improved with time (unlike most folks of his generation, Marolda not only isn't afraid of sampling and electronics, he has some fun ideas about what to do with them). Superb stuff that anyone with a taste for classic pop needs to pick up before this album goes away again. - Mark Deming, All Music Guide Read more Less