Everyone knows not to judge a book by its cover, but when you hear of a band named ‘Fancy Toys’, it can be difficult not to get a little bit excited nonetheless.Luckily, the quality of the Fancy Toys’s debut EP is a saviour from the potential hazards of falling foul of the above proverb; the avant-garde London-based band has a decadently fun vibe that qualifies them to more than live up to their name.
There’s a definite continental feel to the record, with skiffle-esque backings that sound befitting of a dingy Parisian coffee-shop on opening track ‘Gypsy Eyes’, a French lilt on both singers’ vocals throughout and the confetti of fashionably obscure xylophone embellishments floating around at the basement party that this EP is – the party that none of us would have been arty, well-connected or cool enough to attend.
That’s not to say that the Fancy Toys are inaccessible, but it’s fair to say that they’re far cooler than your average indie band; tight jeans, elaborate hairstyles and purposefully executed regional accents are no match for a band who have a track on their EP written and sung entirely in French (track two – the French-Jazz influenced ‘Immoral’) and who sound like they’re constantly having fun in their own shiny world full of equally dynamic, quirky followers.
The Fancy Toys: 7/10
