Given that it was released on 6 January, the
debut record from Amsterdam’s Tape Toy gets major longevity points. I’m
still playing it more than 11 months later, which – in a year where Spotify
tells me I listened to 830 artists – is no small thing. That said, Honey,
WTF probably was my album of the year throughout the first quarter of 2022,
so a placing of 18 means it has faded a bit since. Tape Toy have called
themselves ‘bubble-gum grunge’ in interviews, which is both accurate and a
little pretentious. Ultimately, this is an excellent indie rock record. Honey,
WTF is full of catchy tunes, and has a fresh bouncy feel. However, it also
does sometimes veer into something a little scuzzier (see, e.g., the verse on
‘Phone Call’; all of ‘Hold On’). The likes of ‘Crushed’ and ‘Lizzie’ even recall
Momma’s post-grunge racket. Mostly, though, this trends to the poppier
side. If there’s a weakness, it’s the lyrics, which are a bit dodgy: they too
often come over like rote teenage angst. But this is a young band on album 1,
so that can be forgiven. Overall, this is fun and catchy – I adored it for a
hot minute at the start of 2022, and it has enough about it that even after
that initial flush, it has managed to stick around all year long.