The new album from Toebow, Themes, dropped yesterday on Imaginator Records, and it's a largely delightful release. Full of invention and wit, the long-player skirts the edges of indie-pop and art-rock. Members of this band were in BOBBY earlier and that should be another draw for potential listeners here.
"Key Song" is propulsive and infectious, while the oddly-titled "Golden Hamburger" is more spacious and lyrical still, echoes of Fear of Music-textures here. Elsewhere, "Something Optimistic" is Fripp-y goodness, all spry guitar-lines ricocheting around, while the lush "Bed in Breakfast" is near-prog rock, the players here using a light touch to render the tune a very likable one. At their best, like on album closer "Return of Toebow", the band approach the kind of material here on Themes with a nice blend of expert musicianship and lightheartedness, such that tunes soar where, in other hands, they might have been lugubrious.
Themes is out now via Imaginator Records.
More details on Toebow via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Dave Herr]