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.

Next, Cataclysm off their new album Steam Ship Killers.

Finally, Devil’s in the Details also unreleased.

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys is playing at the Peabody Essex Museum’s Surrealist Ball on 7/21, and at the Middle East downstairs on 7/29.   If you can’t make any of their upcoming shows, check out their appearance on the Boston episode of IFC’s Young Broke & Beautiful.

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