Album, Single and EP Reviews


 

 

  777 by Tonetta


777 cover art

Artist: Tonetta
Title: 777
Catalogue Number: Black Tent Press
Review Format: LP
Release Year: 2010



The needle settles into the white vinyl groove and it is Canada calling time. Not another folk tinged singer whinewriter this time but a genuine Internet sensation going by the name of Tonetta doing his smut tinged groove thang.

I often wonder why so many bands dare to be average these days when there really isn’t any point in that approach as the records industry just isn’t interested in anything other than their back catalogue. No one, however, would accuse Tonetta of being average and, instead of collapsing under the weight of cheap innuendo, he muscles up his music like some old style disco queen and, whilst Burt Bacharach might never have thought of doing a song called “A Really Big Cock” or “I’m Gonna Marry A Prostitute”, Tonetta was never planning on playing Vegas anyway so doing the Divine meets Johnny Thunders thing seems positively logical (and more than a bit addictive). 

Even though the songs contained on this album were recorded over a period of over two decades what strikes me most is the consistency of his song writing. The styles vary as you would expect but no one wearing protective gloves would deny that Tonetta writes an irritating catchy song with remarkable regularity whether it be the cod Aznavour crooning of “I’ll Remain As I Am”, the schoolboy shock tactics of “$Viral$” or the demented Euro disco decadence of “Drugs Drugs Drugs”. No matter how you look at it, he’s hardcore about what he does and that’s the truth.

The more you listen to this album, the more you become convinced that the ghost of hedonism haunts Tonetta in all his commensurate narcissistic glory and, through the bathroom window of the Internet, we all get to watch. They say Nero fiddled as Rome burned. Tonetta plays with his drum machine and dances the waltz of death as the record industry dematerialises. Yes, he’s going to have the last laugh.
 


www.myspace.com/tonetta777
Reviewer:
Review Date: January 28 2011