Toro Y Moi: What For?

Ryan Reed on June 5, 2015

Chaz Bundick was burdened with the “chillwave” tag early on, but he’s spent the rest of his young career eclipsing it. The songwriter/producer has built an identity of sonic exploration, restlessly pushing himself from evocative bedroom soundscapes into full-fledged funk and psych-pop. What For?, his fourth album under the Toro Y Moi moniker, is another revelatory step forward, showcasing Bundick’s skills as an old-school rock craftsman. Recruiting like-minded collaborators Ruban Nielson (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) and multi-instrumentalist Julian Lynch, he hurtles himself back into the early 1970s—an era when virtuosity and hooks weren’t contradictory concepts. With its creamy funk-rock guitars and mind-melting fuzz-pedal solos, “Spell It  Out” suggests the Doobie Brothers crashing a psychedelic disco; the hazy, jazzy groove of “The Flight” echoes both Steely Dan and Todd Rundgren. What For? condenses the entire decade into 10 shapeshifting tracks, each refracted through Bundick’s seductive lens.

Artist: Toro Y Moi
Album: What For?
Label: Carpark