Shark Toys are a Los Angeles punk band who combine their love for existentialist literature (Pessoa, Camus, Kafka, etc) and the more disjointed sides of recorded music (Swell Maps, Desperate Bicycles, the Fall, Devo, etc.).
Formed in 2008, Shark Toys are the brainchild of Daniel Clodfelter. Initially a guitar and toy keyboard bedroom recording duo with then girlfriend (now wife) Rina, Shark Toys have mutated over the years into a blisteringly aggressive punk three piece consisting of Daniel on guitar and vocals, Emanuel Farias on drums, and Bill Gray (formerly of the Mae Shi) on bass and backing vocals.
Labyrinths is Shark Toys’ third LP and first for In the Red. It was recorded in two quick bursts in late 2015 and mid 2016 with Andrew Schubert at Golden Beat Studios shortly after Rina and long time bassist Mike Naeimollah left the group, to be replaced by Bill. Mikal Cronin came to the first session and added sax to a few songs. Around the time Shark Toys were writing these songs a few of Daniel’s close friends died from different causes (suicide, drugs, cancer) giving the album its dark lyrical theme.