For the Record - Toro Y Moi

Chaz Bundick makes music with the sensibility of a DJ more than that of any conventional songwriter. He is a skilled manipulator of mood, texture and ambiance, and both of his albums as Toro Y Moi have been very well sequenced, each track flowing naturally into the next, just like a good DJ set. This sense of flow carried him through his debut, Causers of This, but his sophomore LP Underneath the Pine has loftier ambitions, and Bundick will need a few more tools in his musical arsenal before he can pull off an album of this scope.

Causers of This was a pleasant little trip through a well-rendered sonic landscape; simple and pretty if a bit underwhelming. Underneath the Pine is arguably the stronger record, due to the highs of the moments where it succeeds, but its attempt at a bigger vision ensures that these highs are matched with glaring flaws. Veering away from electronic textures towards a wide array of woozy, warm analog sounds from some unplaceable but distinctly retro era, Pine has some interesting, genre-bending moments. Unfortunately, Bundick often gets bogged down in a stew of sonic imitation that leaves the record with a lack of personality.

What’s strange, then, is that some of the record’s best tracks are the ones that seem the most straightforwardly imitative. “New Beat” and “Still Sound” are prime specimens of a sort of foggy, buttoned-up funk that first appeared on Causers. Along with “Go With You” and the surprisingly replayable “Intro Chi Chib” they borrow liberally from French pop like Air and Daft Punk. Here, Bundick nails the atmosphere and genre nostalgia, but unlike much of the album, memorable melodies and tight arrangements are there to support it.

This brings us to the more immediate problem with much of the album: Bundick’s flat, bland vocals and his lack of interest in consistently writing memorable hooks and choruses on songs that desperately need them. The cheesy flourishes fueled by genre-worship (harpsichord, out-of-time bongos, straight-outta-Funkytown synths) can work when there’s a strong, compelling presence at the center. (Destroyer’s newest album could not be a more perfect example of this phenomenon.) But when one of Bundick’s almost-monotone melodies and nonemotive vocal performances finds itself in the spotlight, the borrowing feels more like parody than homage, and aimless grooves like “Got Blinded” and “How I Know” become just plain irritating. Despite those aforementioned highlights, this facelessness plagues more than half the album, and such inconsistency leaves me feeling cold when Pine runs its course.

Still, the album ends on a positive note, and so will I. Closer “Elise” may be the most impressive song on Underneath the Pine, unifying the record’s borrowed sonics and its uniquely fuzzy, psychedelic atmospherics and backing it all up with some honest pop moments — namely the emphatic chorus. It’s a song that shows he’s capable of achieving the unique blend of styles that he shoots for on Underneath the Pine, and if he continues to hone his skills as a songwriter while remaining a skilled technician, there may yet be a truly enduring Toro Y Moi album on its way.