June 2009

Album review

Chaz Bundick began making recordings under the name Toro y Moi in 2001, but he only began to make some noise in 2009 when a flood of releases sparked a lot of interest in the chilly pop sounds he was creating. That year he put out two singles (including the much-hyped -- for good reason -- "Blessa"), an EP, a self-released full-length album (My Touch), and a tour-only collection of songs called June 2009. This June 2009 is a revamped version of that collection; nine of the ten songs here appeared on the original CD-R. Anyone who discovered Toro y Moi after 2009 may be surprised at how direct and indie rock-derived a big chunk of the album is, as many of the songs are guitar-based gems that show the influence of Pavement or My Bloody Valentine. There is plenty of reverb and the fidelity is reassuringly low, so it's not a million miles away from later Toro records. A few songs sound like chillwave warmups for Causers of This, the early, looser version of "Talamak" in particular. There's even a track ("Drive South") that nods to the squiggly electro-funk of 2011's Freaking Out EP. There may not be anything particularly revelatory about June 2009, but it's a nice batch of tunes and anyone who's new to Bundick's work will appreciate this glimpse into the early days.

© Tim Sendra /TiVo