Toy (By Laura Palmer)
By Adam Hooper
Having only formed in 2010, Toy are still very much in their infancy, there’s not an awful lot people really know about them having only released one single and no major back catalogue, to speak of a headline tour at the moment would still seem a tough sell. Coming to prominence in 2011, making appearances at Festivals including Field Day and a little stint supporter big time players The Horrors, Toy are now attempting to carve out their own solid fan base.
What they deliver is a brand of what many are calling psychedelic indie rock, but what’s quite psychedelic about it was quite frankly lost on me. The five-piece do indeed look like they’ve walked straight out of the 70s shrouded in swathes of long hair, turtle neck jumpers, flowery shirts and even a key-board player that does indeed look like the long lost daughter of Brian Eno but that’s really where it ended.
It’s fairly basic indie rock with a somewhat vintage twist, front man Tom Dougall’s vocals are simple and often inaudible in the Thekla and really fail to make any lasting impression to a first time listener but seem moody enough that it’s easy to see why they were selected to support The Horrors. The guitar jams are often likened to early 90′s Britpop, such as Pulp, but without the vibrant light-heartedness that so easily endeared people to the genre 20 years ago. Keyboard player Alejandra does her best to liven things up, if not only with a little sparkly clothing as otherwise it’s hard to hear what the keys and synths are really adding to the musical process.
All in all, the room seems generally satisfied but as a first time listener it’s hard to understand what the hype is about.
