Remember that confused feeling you got when you found out that painting of a Campbell's soup can was considered art? And not just art, but mind blowing art? Well, the cover for Todd's new album preys upon that same anti-climatic tightening of the stomach. That is soon followed by a flash of pain in the base of the skull due to the way the red and blue stand in stark contrast to each other. As hideously ugly as it is, it would not be a great shock if Todd never sold an album.
That chance gets increased after considering the band name they chose. It's been a long time since a band has chosen as boring a name as Todd. It is instantly forgettable with nothing to inspire any kind of interest. It's like naming your band John, or James, or Bill. It's that cop who blocks off a crime scene and says, "Nothing to see here, folks. Move along."
This is a shame because the music here is pretty cool. Todd crafts stoner rock that sounds nothing at all like Queens of the Stone Age. Not to diss QotSA, but the big similarity between the two artists is the music's ability to make the listener say, "Mmm... drugs."
However, there is a second similarity to QotSA that takes a bit more digging to come up with. Todd shares the same ability to craft really smart sounding songs. From song to song the sound doesn't vary greatly; however, Todd has learned that you can create an identity for a song with more than just how a song sounds. It boils down to smart song writing that can't be pinpointed, but felt none the less.
The overall sound is low, slow, and like a thick sonic sludge. It's doom stoner rock with screamed vocal that don't get too monotonous. This is definitely a strong album and I hope fans of the genre aren't too put off by the band's name and artwork.
3/4
