Melted Toys

Album review

On their self-titled debut album, West Coast quartet Melted Toys sound like a lot of their contemporaries. Their lo-fi, wobbly indie pop approach is one that most of the Captured Tracks roster past and present has utilized; so have many others like Real Estate and a few stragglers on Burger and other labels. Inspired by the jangling guitar interplay of '80s post-punk icons Felt, never raising their voices above a somnambulant whisper, and generally sounding like a stiff wind would blow them over, the Toys give the nearly played-out template a gentle kick by dialing it down one notch closer to dream state. In this eyes-half-shut manner, they craft a blanket fort of fragile voices, carefully plucked, strummed, and pressed guitars and keys, and a whole lot of soothingly weird and pretty songs. Tracks like "Bummed Out," "Come On," and "Joy Fit" have a stately reserve and warped melancholy that would make Felt's Lawrence proud, and the way the guitar lines wrestle the vocals for the spotlight would do the same for Felt's guitarist Maurice Deebank. The lovely use of synths adds a great deal of color and texture to the sound as well, giving them a leg up on some of their competition. It's not all lullabies and naps, though, as the occasional burst of energetic pop or guitar noise happens by to give the record a jolt. Or more like a tiny nudge here and there that never disturbs the mood or threatens to disperse the cloud of peaceful gloom that surrounds the listener like wisps of fog on a rainy night. There are even a couple moments, like on the almost bubbly "Citrus Honeymoon," where the haze parts for just a second and the sun shines in. The album isn't going to send chills down spines or invoke great gusts of adulation, but a couple listens will be enough to firmly establish Melted Toys as a go-to relaxation and/or meditation aid for the discerning indie pop maven. It's also different and interesting enough to keep them separated from the pack of like-minded sleep-pop practitioners that grows larger every month, it seems.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo