 17/03/2009 NUTS AND BOLTS: Frances Noon, Lazlo Legezer, Charlie Boud, Alfonso Pisanelli
STOMPING GROUND: London, formed 2005
SET TO SOUNDTRACK: Piled-up underage raves
DESTINED TO UPSET: People who are easily unnerved
YOU’RE IN BUSINESS IF YOU LIKE: The Ting Tings, ESG, Cibo Matto, Etta James, Tricky
This is unnerving stuff. My Toys Like Me are reminiscent of Tricky’s dark trip hop, circa ‘Maxinquaye,’ but with his hushed whispers replaced by Francis Noon’s unsteady, pubescent vocals. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just odd. If you imagine Lilly Allen’s privileged upbringing and breezy pop mentality replaced by formative years spent in the gutter eating gummy bears and clinging to a soiled teddy bear, then you are along the right lines.
The standout track of the band’s debut, ‘Where We Are,’ is the dub-inflected track, ‘Superpowers’. It’s a slice of noir electro, underpinned with a weird, menacing bossa nova rhythm, staccato slashes of treble-loaded guitar and politically-edged, child-like vocals. Elsewhere there’s a minimalist pop sensibility, like the track ‘Barnaby,’ which shuffles through a glitchy verse of blips, beeps and bass, before a surprisingly uplifting chorus, which occupies the strange terrain between Rachel Steven’s throwaway hit, ‘Some Girls,’ and Neu!’s influential early meanderings. MTLM won’t be to everyone’s taste; the saccharine vocals will give some people an ice-cream headache, but if you can get past that, then some great pop songs gradually emerge.
WHERE WE ARE OUT IN MAY (DUMB ANGEL) WORDS: ROB DABROWSKI
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