Formed in 2010, Toy are one of a new wave of bands bringing psychedelic, shoe-gazey rock into the 21st Century. Toy represent the avant-garde end of the spectrum, clad in black polo necks and tight jeans, and specialising in eight minute instrumentals. I’ll be honest at this point and admit that I’ve never particularly enjoyed this kind of music; tonight will be interesting.

 

Gorilla is a fairly new venue to Manchester, but it’s a good one; trendy without being pretentious and with beer, food and live music under one roof. The music venue itself is built into an arch under the railway bridge. Scaffold beams criss-cross the ceiling and the stage is backed by a huge wall of generator control panels. It gives the place a wholly industrial feel, fitting for a city like Manchester.

 

Support tonight comes from The Proper Ornaments. That two members arrive on stage in double denim (quadruple denim?) gives a good indication of what will come next. A trippy, psychedelic outfit, they deliver a conveyor belt of chord progressions and high octave riffs and If I’m honest it’s difficult to tell one song from another. The last two songs of the set see them come to life a little more (the guitarist even peeks out from behind his hair briefly) and credit has to be given for the pulsating finish to the final track.

 

Toy’s entry onto the stage is low key, the five members ambling on almost unacknowledged by the now fairly sizable crowd. Alejandra Diez teases out atmospheric swirly echoes from her keyboards and the guitars kick in for the opener from new album Join The Dot’s, Conducter. It’s one of those eight minute instrumentals I mentioned but the crowd are definitely into it, heads nodding along.

 

They follow this with Colours Running Out, the opener from the self-titled debut and it’s the first time elfin like vocalist Tom Dougall comes to the mic. The balance isn’t quite right on the mixing desk though and the vocal is almost lost amongst the effects-laden guitars.

 

Toy aren’t too fussed with crowd interaction and communication barely gets beyond, ‘this next song is…’. It doesn’t seem too important to this crowd though and the committed head nodding continues with more conviction as the night goes on. At one point, one couple even branches out into a brief swaying movement before re-considering this and reverting back to the safety of head nodding.

 

What does become clear about Toy is that they aren’t just about clever lyrics, indulgent guitar solos or the individuals involved; what they deliver has to be taken as a whole and when they come together, as they do on Kopter, they are fantastic. Amongst a cacophony of swirling guitars and synths, it’s impossible not to be drawn in to the music and the head nodding get’s noticeably more animated throughout the crowd.

 

The problem with reviewing a band like Toy is that the music is an acquired taste. What they do, they do very well and if you’re a fan, you’ll get a lot out of seeing a live performance. If you’re not however and you find this type of music too inaccessible or simply not enjoyable, it’s unlikely that seeing them on stage will change your mind.