If But Here We Are was the funeral, Your Favorite Toy is the violent, jagged intake of breath that follows – a resurrection that is dangerously alive. On their twelfth studio outing, Dave Grohl and gang haven’t just returned; they’ve undergone a huge restructuring.
This is a 10-track, 36-minute concentrated blast of vitriol and vulnerability that recalls the scrappy, exposed-nerve energy of their early days while maintaining the muscularity of a band that has filled stadiums for three decades.
The sonic landscape is a fascinating contradiction. Produced with a “raw-meets-refined” aesthetic, the guitars don’t just play; they snarl and bite. There’s a grit under the fingernails here that’s been missing for a while. Grohl sounds energised, fuelled by a brand of righteous anger that feels deeply personal. With Ilan Rubin now behind the kit, the percussion is lean and punishing, providing a concrete foundation for Grohl’s vocal cords to fray once more.
The album’s pace is relentless. “Of All The People” is a standout, a high-octane exorcism aimed at ghosts from Grohl’s past, dripping with a vitriol that feels earned. Then there’s “Spit Shine”, which leans heavily into his hardcore punk DNA, and the title track, “Your Favorite Toy,” which masterfully balances sugary pop melodies with a sludge-heavy undercurrent. “Caught In The Echo” serves as the album’s thematic spine, a swirling vortex of guitar layers exploring the disorientation of living in one’s own shadow.
However, the album truly finds its soul in its quieter detours. The middle-order sequence of “Window”, “If You Only Knew” and the devastatingly brilliant “Child Actor” breaks the high-velocity energy in the best way possible. These are sombre, reflective moments where the distortion fades to reveal a man looking into the mirror and not always liking what he sees. “Child Actor”, in particular, is an evocative critique of fame and the search for validation that feels like a spiritual successor to “Everlong”, but through a much darker lens.
Your Favorite Toy is a definitive late-career triumph. It is the sound of a band refusing to become a legacy act, choosing instead to burn with a new, blue-hot flame. The band have had their critics over the years, but they have found a way to weaponise their history into a razor-sharp edge that cuts through the noise and silences the “legacy” label for good.
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