TOY CAR aren’t here to play nice, and their latest single Thylacine is proof of it. Out of Liverpool with their sleeves rolled up and their amps cranked, this is indie rock made to sound sweaty and dangerous again. The band have been simmering just below the surface for a while, building momentum off festival slots and word-of-mouth comparisons to Cage the Elephant and The Strokes, but Thylacine feels like the first time they’ve properly sunk their teeth in. It’s restless, sharp, and snarling – like the extinct beast it’s named after, only brought back to life with fuzz pedals and pint-spilling attitude.
The track tears open with wiry guitar lines that cling to the bass like barbed wire, and there’s an urgency in the delivery that doesn’t let up. You can hear the Liverpool grit in the vocals, a swagger that isn’t just imitation but instinct. What’s clever, though, is how they resist falling into straight four-chord indie landfill. The middle eight takes a sharp left turn, shifting the dynamics just when you think you’ve got them pegged. It’s that unexpected twist that hints at a band with bigger ambitions than just filling the floor at Heebie Jeebies on a Friday night.
That said, there’s still room to sharpen the edges. At times, the production feels a bit too polished, sanding down the chaos that clearly fuels their live shows. A bit more dirt under the fingernails, a bit more danger in the mix, and this could’ve been properly feral. You get the sense that TOY CAR are at their most potent when they’re pushing into unhinged territory, when the wheels are about to come off. On Thylacine, they flirt with that madness but never quite let it loose.
Still, it’s hard to deny the sheer adrenaline rush of this track. The chorus is massive without being sickly sweet, the riffs bite without turning into cliché, With their debut album Cream looming in November, Thylacine sets the stage for a record that could go either way: a defining statement of intent or just another notch in indie’s overcrowded belt. Judging by this, they’ve got the guts to make it the former.
TOY CAR have nailed something raw here – a reminder that indie rock doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to make you feel like tearing down the street at 2am with your mates, shouting lyrics into the night. And on that front, Thylacineabsolutely delivers.
TOUR DATES
Manchester – 17th October / / Lions Den
Bristol – 25th October / / Old England
Birmingham – 31st October / / Sunflower Lounge
Liverpool – 7th November / / Rough Trade
FOLLOW THE BAND HERE
CHECK OUT THE LATEST RGM TRENDING MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS HERE