Today’s Sounds: Toy

Record:

Toy, Toy (Heavenly)

 
Merging the density of shoegazing with the disco-light whirl of ballroom rock and a coat of goth paint in a way that’s somewhat reminiscent of the Horrors, Toy set their compasses a few degrees west of their fellow Brits (and friends, incidentally), and arrive at sonic bliss.

Whether you agree will depend on your tolerance for song sketches and experimental interludes. But that said, it feels like there’s a little something for everyone on this debut record – well, everyone with an appreciation for motorik maelstroms of sound and spinning-room synth-rock, anyway.

From winsome guitar pop songs to complex choreographies of synths, guitar pedals and propulsive rhythms to uptempo rockers lined with haunting SFX to slowdance-worthy mini-synth-symphonies, there’s a wide range of tones at play here, but it never feels like a mess. The record’s varied nature keeps thing lively and highly entertaining, though some will gravitate to the melodic flow of the pop tunes, or the furious strumming of the string-destroying rockers.

“Psychedelic” is a term that’s being used to describe Toy’s sound, but these days that’s as vague as labeling something “indie.” Whatever tag you want to affix to them, these guys are clearly pushing themselves to render the myriad sounds in their heads in a way that’s substantial and satisfying.
 

Track:

Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch, “Etimasia”

 
Jim Jarmusch, could you be any cooler? This track is a preview of the American auteur’s second collaborative record with Van Wissem this year, entitled The Mystery of Heaven. It’s out Nov. 13 on Sacred Bones.
 
Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch – Etimasia by sacredbones
 

Video:

Grizzly Bear, “Yet Again”

 
The best song from the band’s latest record Shields gets augmented here, care of the Creators Project and director Emily Kai Bock. This beautifully shot video features a frustrated young figure skater crashing through arena ice and coming up for air in somewhere strange and sleepy, and in Ontario. The shades of David Lynch and Chris Cunningham near the end are pretty awesome.