Tin Toy Cars Releases Album
Jan 29, 2016, Artist News
Formed in 2014, and co-founded by Weber artist Peter Fand, Tin Toy Cars has staked out a singular niche that's established the quintet as both a creative force and a favorite band among the burgeoning downtown Las Vegas scene. Falling, Rust & Bones is Tin Toy Cars’ debut, and it showcases the band's insatiable creative spirit and focused vision, as well as Fand's wide-ranging influences and universal style of songwriting.
On Falling, Rust & Bones, Tin Toy Cars channels a myriad of influences into nine new songs that are rooted in Americana traditions. The resulting forward-thinking music rings with echoes of folk and roots, while maintaining an Indie Rock aesthetic. With over two decades spent working in traditional West African music, from Guinea to Mali, Fand's songwriting lends the band an intriguing, other-worldly slant. That sense of musical adventure has driven the band from the start, with each musician emerging from thriving artistic communities around the U.S., and as far as Montreal, Canada.
Fand met his bandmates after landing in Vegas, and following two years of international touring as a cast member of Cirque du Soleil’s “Zarkana.” In 2012, "Zarkana" became a resident show at Aria Resort & Casino, and he began to call Sin City home. As Fand laid roots in the Vegas scene, he cultivated a group of musicians who bonded over pushing the limits and creating inspired music. He harvested drummer Aaron Guidry from “Zarkana”, violinist Martin St-Pierre from Cirque's "Mystére," and found kindred spirits in local musicians Brian Burns and Andrew Chute.
The group began playing shows in Vegas as Tin Toy Cars, and inspired by his fellow musicians, Fand began writing for the combination of players. These new songs would become the group's first album. Falling, Rust & Bones is defined by Fand’s lead mandolin and the high level of virtuosity displayed by his bandmates, including violinist St-Pierre, who has worked with members of White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Perfect Circle and Primus, amongst others.
The album plays with the idea of falling: apart, in and out of love, or even literally — "Down On The Bowery" tells the true story of Steve Brodie, a newsboy who famously jumped off of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886; turning a publicity stunt into fame and fortune. Meanwhile, there’s a sense of things rusting, and getting worn away, like the sleepy town in "Time To Get Away" or the relationships in “Addicted To You,” or "In My Head”. While "Desert Dogs" visualizes coyotes and vultures circling the nearly dead carcass of a once thriving romance, it ends with the uplifting lyric: "There may still be some life in this pile of bones". Falling, Rust & Bones is about the trials we go through, the unraveling, and the hint of hope.
"On one level this is acoustic music," says Fand, "However, our drummer isn’t holding anything back. That leads us to amplify our instruments, and opens the door to using cool, unexpected effects; blazing, distorted mandolin solos, wah pedals on violins and more. At times, the music feels elevated with intricately composed arrangements for the strings. At other times, it simply rocks hard."
With Falling, Rust & Bones encapsulating Tin Toy Cars' salient qualities, the quintet is eager to share this nine-song collection with the world. On its video single, "Do Everything You Can Before You're Dead," the band playfully deliver a simple message: Live. "This song very bluntly reminds listeners that one day you’ll be dead, so you had better seize the moment," says Fand.