Album Review: Happy in the Hollow by TOY

The TOY story has been an eventful one since the band initially got together eight years ago. Rising from the ashes of much maligned indie hopefuls Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, TOY became one of the leading lights of the London psychedelic rock scene alongside The Horrors and Temples, signing to Heavenly Recordings and then releasing three critically acclaimed albums in the process. Having parted company with Heavenly last year at the end of their three album deal, the band have brushed themselves down, found a new label in Tough Love and written a brand new bunch of songs.

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Toy's emergence into The Quietus' consciousness nearly a decade ago was all you could ask for from a guitar group: a blistering live show that wiped the floor with all-comers, incredibly young with a magnificent sharp aesthetic and a killer debut single in the shape of 'Left Myself Behind'. They continued to triumph live, gamely even allowing Wire to support them at a gig we ran at the Lexington, and released a solid self-titled debut album in 2012. This we described thus: "Toy are unashamedly a pop band, with songs that are mostly succinct and driven by hooks and melody, but with a visceral punch few of their peers can match." Unfortunately for a long time thereafter Toy seemed to struggle to match the high standards they'd set themselves.

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