Brighton, England’s TOY are a band that could be easily obsessed over. Their music is constructed like a luminous quilt of rock sub-genres: Krautrock, psychedelia, indie pop, post-punk, shoegaze, garage, prog. These skilful music nerds have both the knowledge and chops to knit all of those influences together with meticulous precision.
Proteges of the Horrors, TOY got off to a roaring start, releasing their self-titled first album in 2012 and follow-up Join The Dots in 2013, before taking a break to record an album last year as Sexwitch with Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes). Like its predecessor, third album Clear Shot marks another leap forward for the band’s curious appetite. With help from mixing wizard David Wrench (Bloc Party, Jamie xx) as producer, they’ve managed to soften their stiffened rock edges and sharpen their hooks (see the soaring melodies of single I’m Still Believing).
This might leave some fans yearning for the driving psych rock of past songs like Motoring or It’s Been So Long, but a song like the reverb-bathed Dream Orchestrator manages to achieve similar mind-expanding intensity with rippling waves of synthesizers.
Earlier generations of psych fans had the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd to worship and pursue on tour. Now, three albums in, TOY could become this generation’s long-haired psychedelic heroes to follow around in VW campers.
Top track: Dream Orchestrator
