TOY

JOIN THE DOTS (Heavenly Recordings)

11/20

Listening to TOY is a somewhat guilty experience. Like kissing your significant other while day-dreaming about the cute shop assistant in Budgens, it’s almost impossible not to be thinking of other bands while Join The Dots plays out. In the hazy, psychedelia-tinged indie that makes up their second full-length release, the dream-pop of Slowdive, the shoegaze of Ride, the post-punk of The Church, and the contemporary twists on these themes championed by The Horrors all poke through. They’re certainly a group that wear their influences like winter coats rather than simply on the sleeve. But where The Horrors’ psych and synth addled album Skying was a slick fusion of their heroes, Join The Dots is at best a touchstone for discovering the artists being channeled. That’s not to say it’s completely without merit. Opener Conductor is a brilliant soundscape which morphs an oriental refrain into a pummelling and rhythmic seven minutes of noise, a track which turns out to be the most original thing on the album. At the halfway mark To A Death Unknown fizzles along with a lovely lazy melody, but elsewhere, and in between, the songs meander past with little to recommend them, being too indebted to leave an impression.

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Words: Andrew Broaks