18 - TAPE TOY - Honey, WTF


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.