San Pedro, California’s Toys That Kill have spent the last two decades perfecting a kind of timeless punk rock that feels both scrappy and classic at once. Fronted by longtime scene fixture Todd Congelliere, the band grew out of his earlier project F.Y.P., a lo-fi, fast-and-furious outfit that mixed hardcore urgency with melody, humor, and heart.
Today, we’re premiering the new Toys That Kill track “Dumb and Elated,” a punchy, cathartic slice of what the band has always done best. The song captures that signature mix of raw emotion, big hooks, and unpretentious energy, coming together in an instant rather than overthinking. As Congelliere puts it, “I was in a self-deprecating mood and needed to shed it off. We plugged in and pressed record."
The track comes off of Triple Sabotage, Toys That Kill's first full-length album in a decade, which hits streaming outlets in full on Friday:
Congelliere has long been a cornerstone of the San Pedro punk community. He first made his mark with F.Y.P., a project born in 1989 after a sudden immersion into punk via skate friends and mixtapes loaded with bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, 7 Seconds, the Germs, and the Descendents. That band blended fast hardcore with melody, pitch-dark humor, and sentimental sarcasm, eventually evolving into Toys That Kill around the turn of the millennium.
What emerged was a band built around bigger, hook-driven songs without sacrificing the DIY spirit of their roots. Alongside guitarist and co-vocalist Sean Cole, bassist Chachi Ferrara, and drummer Jimmy Felix, Congelliere helped shape a sound that distills influences like the Buzzcocks, Cheap Trick, the Clash, the Replacements, and the Ramones into something distinctly Toys That Kill—heartfelt, energetic, and rough around the edges.
***
Triple Sabotage will be out on February 20th via Recess Records (pre-order vinyl).
Tagged: toys that kill
