Toro Y Moi
What For?
Opening to the scream of F1's speeding around a racetrack, and maintaining that intensity with booming guitar riffs and
psychedelic effects throughout, the forthcoming album from Toro Y Moi is definitely making a statement. Or maybe a few
statements. But Chaz Bundick, the frontman and songwriter, is leaving it up to you to figure out what they are. While it
is obvious that each song is crafted around a personally meaningful experience, Chaz seems to purposefully leave the
lyrics just vague enough to let each listener mold it into something unique. Chaz presents you with a few themes: love,
beauty, nature; and gently lets go of your hand so you can wander off on your own. A feeling of searching for something
threads its way through every song on the album, which is aptly named What For? It feels contradictory in a very human
way, like Chaz is swinging between waiting for something and not being able to wait anymore. But the swinging isn't
panicked or frustrated, it's just a situation that he's reflecting on. The songs are heavy with nostalgia, too, for
simpler times, better music, more fulfilling relationships. Chaz references Weezer to warn you that "there is no one to
destroy your sweater" and, in another song, recalls Big Star to declare that "rock and roll is here to stay." It feels
like he misses everything (even things he wasn't around for yet), but is somehow excited for what comes next. What For?
is a glimpse into the life of a guy trying to figure out what it all means. The music is influenced by bands like Big
Star, Talking Heads, Tim Maia, Todd Rundgren, but it doesn't quite sound like any of them in particular. And it isn't
trying to. It has that special something that Chaz imbues in every Toro Y Moi album, his personal filter on the world he
experiences. So whatever message you take from the album, don't forget that it's good. As Chaz himself so candidly
believes, "Good is good. Good finds its own audience."
Price
Genre
Format
LP - 1 disk
Release
07-04-2015
Label
Item-nr
890574
EAN
0677517010213
Availability
Not in stock
Tracks
Title
Artist
1
WHAT YOU WANT
2
BUFFALO
3
THE FLIGHT
4
EMPTY NESTERS
5
RATCLIFF
6
LILLY
7
SPELL IT OUT
8
HALF DOME
9
RUN BABY RUN
10
YEAH RIGHT