Premiere: Toy Cars - "Iron Me Out"

We love Toy Cars. Their song "Cold" hooked us and the next one that we're premiering today "Iron Me Out" had us floored. Go preorder their album "Paint Brain." It's out January 12th!

Credit: Lora Ann Poulin — Credit: Lora Ann Poulin

<a href="http://toycars.bandcamp.com/album/paint-brain">Paint Brain by Toy Cars</a>

What about New Jersey breeds so many bands? The energy of the city? The different pockets of people?

Well, there's definitely the fact that NJ is the most densely populated state. Other than that, I think there's just a really strong sense of community among NJ based musicians, and the fact that it's such a small state allows for people from all corners of it to connect to each others music. This is something that may be different in a larger place, like Texas or Florida, but it's cool that I can see a friend of mine from two hours south play music whenever I want.

What bands did you guys all agree on when you formed the band?

We all actually come from sort of different musical backgrounds, which is always a fun thing for us because of the fact that it makes us all appreciate what the rest of us like listening to. With that said, there could be a list of a hundred bands that we all agree are awesome.

What things did you learn from seeing other bands start out that helped when forming Toy Cars?

I know that Washed Up Emo really likes gates (also from NJ), and growing up I used to go see them whenever they would come to New Brunswick, NJ. They were one band whose performance always inspired me to to push to be a better musician because of how tight it was (and is).

How would you want your band to be told to someone listening for the first time?

We usually tell people "indie-rock" with a little emo sprinkled on top. A big goal for us is to get to a point where we can transcend genre labels and have sound that is distinct to our band. Hopefully when this record comes out, if someone wants to know what we sound like, the only response will be "check out their new record"!

What song from the record came together the fastest and why?

Ironically, this song, "Iron Me Out" was probably one of the fastest to come together. It was originally brought by me (Matt D) to the band with a pretty put together structure and a totally different chord progression, and when everyone got their hands on it, it quickly became something that everyone was way more excited about and a staple to the sound of the rest of the record.

What is "Iron Me Out" about?

This song is about something that is thematic throughout the entire record, learning to get through the feeling of complicity and not get caught up with getting too comfortable. This is something we all deal with in our lives on a regular basis, and this song is written from the perspective of a person who feels stuck in a relationship and is debating whether or not to speak up about it.