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Jan 30, 2014No matter what confection the band prepares, the melody is the cake and the trippiness the frosting, making Join the Dots one of the most non-head accessible psych rock records since Tame Impala’s breakthrough.
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MojoDec 18, 2013In classic Brit-rock style it is this intrepid combo's assembly of these disparate echoes into something of their own that takes them ever closer to the pantheon of greats. Join the Dots is another exhilarating leap in that direction. [Jan 2014, p95]
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Dec 9, 2013Join the Dots shows that instead of limiting themselves, TOY have just gotten better overall--arguably the more difficult, and rewarding, path for a band to take.
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Dec 6, 2013Join The Dots is a very good album, derivative maybe, but much more than the sum of its parts.
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Dec 4, 2013TOY get the balance exactly right here, perfectly mixing noise and melody.
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Dec 4, 2013Dougall relies too much on overly simplistic lyrics, and it gets a bit annoying.... But this is a minor flaw in what is otherwise a strong second album from a band in the ascendancy.
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Dec 4, 2013Songs pound onwards, elliptical guitar lines wrapping round and round, and there's an all encompassing feeling of travelling vast distances. Relentlessly, confidently and quite, quite spectacularly.
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Dec 17, 2013Join The Dots makes good on the band’s promise to deliver a new album every year, though you can’t help but feel certain songs were neglected in favour of more sophisticated production values.
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Dec 30, 2013For the most part though, this is the sound of a band with huge, yet-to-be-realized potential.
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Jan 9, 2014While they’re great at the dreamy soundscapes, Toy are not as strong with fractured pop songs, and the vocals could still use some work.
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Q MagazineJan 7, 2014Their new album features more jangling indie-pop than before.... But when the similarly inclined Too Far Gone To Know and closer Fall Out Of Love suddenly stir as the Krauty riffing recommences, you're left pondering. [Jan 2014, p.125]
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Dec 9, 2013It's only when hazy melodies begin to pierce the fog that their psychedelic rock strikes the right balance between hooky immediacy and cosmic ambition.
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UncutDec 6, 2013There's no denying the wind-rush thrill of the title track, nor the malevolent pull of "Fall Out Of Love," but you'd expect such a capable band to disguise their affection for MBV, Ride and Kitchens of Distinction rather better on their second album. [Jan 2014, p.78]
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Dec 5, 2013Toy sound cheeringly like a band who are slowly maturing, working out what they want to do and where they want to go.
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Dec 4, 2013The difficulties seem to arise when melody and vocals are expected to step up and carry a track for them. They don’t, much more often than they do, which ends up leaving the listener (or this listener, at least) vaguely dissatisfied.
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May 30, 2014There are a number of ear-worthy gems on the album but it’s difficult to muster up enthusiasm for a band that doesn’t seemingly have much enthusiasm themselves.
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Dec 9, 2013A pleasant enough album, but when it comes down to it, Toy are much more appealing when they soar rather than tread water.