Toman – Perhaps We Should Have Smoked The Salmon First / 2006 Graveface / 8 Tracks / http://www.graveface.com / http://www.toman.be / Reviewed 23 May 2007

The slow building of the song “Losgehen” may not be the best way to install themselves into the minds and hearts of listeners, but Toman sets a mood at this early juncture more successfully than any band I’ve heard. The band does not immediately link its fortune to any other acts; the composition coalesces after a few minutes, but one simply cannot say that there is a little of band a and a little more of band b in Toman at this point. The disc’s second track is “June”, and continues along much of the same emotive type of indie rock that started out the disc.

The horns that sounded so odd in “Losgehen” are present again during “June”; they are such an integral part of this disc that the band would sound completely different if they were not present. The band ends “June” much sooner than “Losgehen”, and “They Storm In (No Knock)”uses the momentum created by the quicker ending to create something that is much different stylistically than either of the other track. While it is true that Toman is still a primarily-instrumental act, there is a new-found electronic crunch present to the act on this song. The band does not completely reinvent their sound; the same type of emotive sound is present on this track as was present on earlier songs, but the inclusion of vocals during this song (however small this segment may be) gives the band a new lease on life.

The band places themselves in a nineties alternative mindset for those moments when they do use vocals. The use of presidential quotes during the track further helps to shape the track and break up the instrumental sections. In a track that is almost seven minutes, tactics like that are necessary. The band further changes up their style with “By Then It Was Summer”. While the time signatures were a constant in the prior tracks of “Perhaps We Should Have Smoked The Salmon”, there seems to be a built-in stutter that operates in opposition to the smoothed-out instrumentation present in the rest of the track. Again, the band invigorates this album by including something new on every track. The largely-instrumental sound of the band will not be something that all can get behind, but the band’s desire to constantly change things up should be more than enough of a reason for individuals to pick up this album.

Top Tracks: By Then It Was Summer, Zalmo Zalar

Rating: 6.8/10

[JMcQ]