The Buzz On: Matt Toka

Bamboozle is just around the corner, and all this week we'll be bringing you The Buzz On a few of the festival's acts so you can know before you go. Check out today's Buzz On, Matt Toka.

Matt Toka has had it opposite of easy in recent years: His parents got divorced, his mom and grandpa wound up in jail and the punk rocker's old band, Cherry Monroe, fell apart. But after trading his one-way ticket to Bummerville for a move to L.A. and writing a few new songs, he's ready to start over solo. And the green-haired musician has a lot to say: With its rapid-fire pop culture references, his single "Say10" sounds like a punk take on R.E.M. word salad "The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." (Also because it has a line about "the end of the world." Influences!) On other tracks, Toka's a dude with a bad attitude: "Whoever said mo' money, mo' problems is a d***," he snarls on "Get Money," a song that dreams of having "a castle for a crib." Aww. Going to pour one out for Biggie now.

Listen to Matt Toka after the jump.

Toka grew up listening to Green Day's Dookie, which is definitely the right starting point for future punk stardom. Also a seriously good decision: working with uber-producer Rob Cavallo (Paramore, Green Day) for his upcoming album Straight To Hell. In the meantime, Toka's self-titled debut solo EP drops on June 12. He's got no shortage of tracks on YouTube, where his videos helped him score a deal with Warner Bros. When he's not checking in from the road, he's posting acoustic performances, including "Courtney" (a tribute to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain) and a fiery cover of Adele's "Someone Like You." Let's ask really nice and get him to do "Rolling in the Deep" at Bamboozle, guys. It'll be epic.

+ Listen to Matt Toka, and check him out at Bamboozle May 19.

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