If you’ve experienced a performance by The Toxhards, you’re no stranger to human-sized Hog vs. Butcher battles to the death, mid-song head shaves, face-melting Pink Floyd covers, and their iconic t-thirt tosses. These aren’t just any old band t-shirts, they are hand painted (by the talented Becca Scherer), one-of-a-kind, Toxhard-tinged t-shirts that go flying into the crowd. If you’re in the front row, or what I lovingly have come to know as “the splash zone,” sometimes Emerson flings it at your face, depending on how tired his arms are by that point in the show. At the Breaking Sound showcase, The Toxhards decided to up the ante with not only a t-shirt toss, but a venue-wide AirDrop of an unreleased song that’s been long awaited by their followers. The Toxhards are known for their doombops, and this one, literally titled “Doombop!”, did not disappoint. They’ve been teasing this tune for months, starting with Alan giving their TikTok and Instagram followers a behind the scenes look at him exploring the hook with an acoustic guitar along with very early stage lyrics and gaps filled in by “la-da-das” while fans commented their lyric suggestions. After the completed hook was posted, the song made its setlist debut at The Mint, and finally, a few nights ago, Emerson asked the Harvard & Stone crowd to turn on their AirDrops before sending all the lucky attending fans the long awaited full studio version. If there’s one thing those Toxhards know how to do, it’s interact with and engage their fans to get them really excited about their music, and the life cycle of “Doombop!” thus far has been a perfect example of this.
Now let’s talk about this song. This is one of those songs that, no joke, I listened to on a loop for 20+ minutes. If there’s anything you take away from this article, let it be this: when this song officially drops, do yourself a favor and set your Spotify to single repeat, just trust me on this. “Doombop!” will make your inner teenager want to crank the volume and scream along until the person in the car next to you starts to worry. It’s got the spirit of an angsty Elvis that transports you back to Heartbreak Hotel and makes your knees want to swivel. You know songs that are so dynamic, they change your breathing pattern? Like your lungs are dancing to the song? This is one of those. It hits you with those quintessential-Toxhard Pink Floydesque guitar breaks that just make you levitate a little, which is a nice break from the stomping and kicking stuff you’ll want to do for the rest of the song. The verses are gritty, a little funky, and have that sweet guitar riff Alan showed us a few months ago. The chorus has these awesome, rock’n’roll-doo-wop “mmmbops” and “sha la las” to it, so make sure you sing this as a duet with a friend. In true doombop fashion, the end has a bunch of group screaming, a little like a My Chemical Romance cover of “Hey Jude” or even their “Dead!” outro, so get your throat lozenges ready. When I was in college, SCU hosted an event called Primal Scream during finals week which consisted of forming a circle on campus where stressed out, over caffeinated, and oh-so-depressed students could drop by, lean their head back, and absolutely let it rip with exhausted and frustrated screams for however long they needed, then walk back into the library and move on with their life. The “Doombop!” screams feel very akin to a Primal Scream, and it’s just fantastic. As someone whose brain is constantly contemplating the subject of impending doom, I can really appreciate a bop such as this one, and I think many listeners will feel the same. The content of the song isn’t too different from the things one might hear from friends, family, and honestly, even a therapist - speaking from experience here. Life itself is weird and hard, but trying to be a sparkling ray of sunshine in the state of 2023, is even weirder and harder. This song encapsulates the internal screech we all have, whether we are conscious of it or not, and the light-hearted doo-wop feel of the chorus juxtaposes this in the same way we sip our silly little coffees and smile at our coworkers after a long night of staring into the void. As I say after all Toxhards shows, “you just had to be there,” but in this case, you LITERALLY had to be there to hear the incredible studio version of this song, for now at least. My only request is that they AirDrop the official instrumental at the next show, because I’m ready to karaoke this song into the ground. Don’t miss The Toxhards’ next show at Lucky Strike in Hollywood on February 19th. “Doombop!” drops February 24!
2 Comments
Alejo
2/15/2023 06:12:16 am
Maybe I shouldn't be this excited, I'm gonna physically explode before I get to listen, tho I already have the first verse stuck in a painful loop. You have made a big part of my days an anxious cage, Toxhards. Ilysm. :)
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Hannah Gini
3/7/2023 10:19:47 pm
That's a totally valid feeling, my friend. I hope you were able to stick around long enough without exploding so you could finally hear the full song! Isn't it just phenomenal?
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