I'm incredibly guilty of having mixed feelings. In one of my darker moments, an ex-bandmate accused me of being "kind of lukewarm on everything." That cut deep. But in the context of dis/liking an artist, I think it's pretty understandable; sometimes even great artists put out shit songs, so it's entirely possible to like half of someone's discography and hate the other. Enter Toro y Moi.
I'll admit to being a chillwave hater when it first started popping up (I still scoff at the name, although the discovery that it's a hipsterrunnoff joke makes it slightly acceptable), and I didn't listen to Toro y Moi for a long time after he broke. Eventually I came around and gave Causers of This a shot, and as my cynical ass often is, I was pleasantly surprised. So when Underneath the Pine came out and got Pitchfork's Best New Music blessing I was optimistic. Torrented that shit in a minute. And was promptly disappointed.
Here's the thing: Chaz Bundick is not a good vocalist, nor is he endearingly bad. He's pretty mediocre. And that's my beef with chillwave in general; aside from some choice singles, it's just kind of boring. Underneath the Pine is a brave album artistically, taking a huge step away from Chaz's older sounds, but it falls flat for me. Whereas Causers had syrupy, reverby production and catchy melodies to make up for the OK vox (see tracks like "Freak Love"), Underneath the Pine just sounds like rehashed late-'70s funk, only without any of the energy that made that music so good. I love "I Can Get Love" (above) which came out as a B-side from Underneath... and executes the retro-funk formula well. But songs like "New Beat," which was supposed to be the lead single, sound completely dead to me. I guess it's got a catchy synth line and some wah'd/flanged guitars, but those aren't enough to carry the rest of the track. Stay spacey Chaz Bundick. Please.
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