Happy in the Hollow

TOY - Happy in the Hollow
Critic Score
Based on 13 reviews
2019 Ratings: #500 / 805
User Score
Based on 85 ratings
2019 Rank: #632
Liked by 3 people
January 25, 2019 / Release Date
LP / Format
Tough Love / Label
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

90
God Is in the TV
A wonderful mixture of styles, with several nods to the 60s along the way.
85
The Line of Best Fit

HITH is a mellow, exploratory affair, with drum machines, acoustic guitars and bottleneck slides being dreamily deployed at key moments to break up the Krautrock churn.

84
Paste

The record’s intense, shadowy first half and airy, graceful second half culminates in an mercurial odyssey that unabashedly celebrates TOY’s eccentricities.

80
DIY
TOY at their most ambitious and confident.
80
Uncut
A further shift away from the full-throttle krautrock of their early years into something more sumptuous.
80
Mojo
Its wintery charms and enervated intrigue are hard to deny.
80
Q Magazine
A band recharged and re-energised.
75
Under the Radar

TOY have returned with their boldest statement of intent to date.

70
musicOMH

TOY make music notable for its mood, groove and texture, if not always finding a killer melody.

70
AllMusic

Even if it's not quite as cohesive as Clear Shot, Happy in the Hollow doesn't change the feeling that the members of TOY have one foot in another dimension that they're waiting to transport their listeners to.

60
The Skinny

TOY continue to put their own unique spin on psychedelia with Happy in the Hollow, and it’s one that clearly works, but ultimately the record lacks in any kind of urgency and doesn’t push much further on what the band have already achieved with previous albums.

60
Loud and Quiet

It sounds like they’re in danger of losing their way.

30
Classic Rock
Gone is any trace of the searing vitality that drove their earlier records; in its place a winsome urge to recreate all of the waftiest, wimpiest moments from pop history.
zachthesnack
66

A little bit drab and underwhelming, but overall an honest and solid effort from one of Indie Rock's most undervalued acts.

JohnLouisHoward
70

much less interesting than 2016 release Clear Shot. lots of meandering, which is unlike previous work by TOY. it really drags in places.

platypusbus
65

some cool stuff, but mostly boring. listen listlessly.

Purchasing Happy in the Hollow from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?


Added on: November 10, 2018