fuck yeah! Walter Sickert &the ARmy of BRoken TOys

Merry Jewmas/Slutmikah from The WIREforest! Enjoy "Hole in the North Pole" and please check out our friends Michael J. Epstein & Sophia Cacciola's snappy holiday tune, posted just after ours, and all the rest of the delightful tunes Sleepover Shows is sharing each day. And get a load of Santy Sickert & Taxi(dermy) Claws!

Happy Holidays from Sleepover Shows! http://sleepovershows.com/holidays2011 :

All this week we will be bringing you some original holiday songs from some of our favorite Boston bands. We’ve also asked each band to name a charity for you to donate to this year. We’ve had a great year doing what we love–filming some of our favorite bands from right here in Boston as well as those coming through town. We thought it only right to help bring some joy to others as well.

WALTER SICKERT & THE ARMY OF BROKEN TOYS Infidelity has its bright side. When their spouses ran off with each other, Walter Sickert and art-scene associate Edrie Edrie found solace in steamcrunk music.

“It’s either become an artist or a serial killer, and I’ve always thought the artist is a better choice,” says singer/guitarist Sickert, who channeled his dark emotions into songs that he shared with Edrie, sowing seeds for the Army of Broken Toys.

“People that joined the band are sort of outsiders in their own field,” Edrie says of the vaudevillian octet, whose members play instruments that include viola, ukulele, clarinet and stand-up bass. For her part, Edrie plays the accordion as well as toys like a boxed glockenspiel and a cymbal-clapping monkey.

A performance troupe called the Bunny Collaborative packs the audience with fire-eaters, human marionettes and burlesque dancers. “I’m constantly onstage going ‘Whoa!’ myself,” Edrie says. “I never know what’s going to happen.”

Sickert, who evokes Dr. John the Night Tripper with his feathered top hat, views the music as a complement to his twisted work as a visual artist: “If you’re going to come out to a show, it should be an art exhibit/carnival rather than people standing around.”

Unsurprisingly, the band’s weekly rehearsals can get as crazy as their shows. “It’s constant chaos,” Edrie says. “Basically it’s like a big family dinner where we end up with music as the dessert.” (--article on Improper Bostonian)

objectify the lovely Edrie in this glamourous screen-cap! ok, now read/watch on. http://sleepovershows.com/waltersickert :

When we arrived to film Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys it was dark outside. We weren’t sure if we had the address right, so we parked outside a house we thought might be the one. So, there we were sitting in the car outside, creepily watching to see if anyone was home. We saw one person walk up, knock on the side door, and go inside. After a bit longer, another person arrived, knocked, and also went in. We started to think maybe we were onto something, this had to be the right house after all. When we knocked, the door opened almost immediately and we were greeted by a smiling Edrie. She led us into the kitchen and introduced us to Walter. We showed up just in time to have dinner with the band and the lasagna and garlic bread were delicious. We ate while intermittently chatting with the many band members and petting Walter’s giant cat who waltzed in and out of the living room as though checking on us.

Up to this point, we’re not going to lie, we thought that maybe there would be more bunny masks and corsets involved even though we were coming to film the band on their practice night. The band’s reputation had preceded itself and we had visions of Jack the Ripper, garter belts, and overcoats dancing in our heads. Instead, we filmed a more subtle performance by the band, though all the traditional trappings surrounded us. The practice room was filled with shelves of broken toys, an empty bunny mask, and twinkle lights. The wall was papered with pages from Alice in Wonderland, and Walter wore a flowing white skirt.

First up, Soldiers Came an unreleased song. . .

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FYI all, the band-bassador is Taxidermy the cat. Taxi for short. He has a facebook page (or two) of course!

Walter Sickert enthroned/ensconced in bunny boobies. My amusing trio of droid-captures leading up to the grand finale pose for the Dr. Sketchy's special evening addition at Club Cafe i've just returned from! Thank you Bunny Collaborative, thank you Aliza/Truth Serum Prod.'s. xxxojojo

Pictured: Miz Fonda Feeling, Porcelain Dalya, Natasha Sorokin, Tricia Smith, Strawberry Cream Pie and Amy Macabre

(fullsize/r of the images: Everybunny1 - Everybunny2 - Everybunny3!)

TONIGHT! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117191225034004

Tuesday, June 14 · 8:00pm - 11:30pm Brighton Music Hall 158 Brighton Avenue Allston, Massachusetts

Walter Sickert ( http://www.armyoftoys.com/ ) Is doing a VERY rare solo (with some VERY special guests) show opening for the AWESOME

Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) - http://www.gruffrhys.com/

See a Boston Phoenix article about Gruff here: http://thephoenix.com/boston/music/121749-wyrd-wyld-welsh-wyrld-of-gruff-rhys/

Y Niwal is also playing - http://www.yniwl.com/ (so awesome!)

18+ Doors @ 8 Walter on at 9 SHARP!!!! Y Niwal 9:30 Gruff Rhys 10:30

Jaggery with Walter Sickert ~ perform "I've seen it all"

From the Sweet squid minitour (we don't speak much of, as it was sans brokedy-knee'd Edrie Dec. 09) i actually filmed this on Rachel Jayson/violist/Musykchyk's camera come to think of it/now that i watch the beautiful cloven hoof silhouettes! -jojo

+Bonus old schoo' flashback tour faux-ku!