Boo Boo

After releasing the poppiest, most guitar-oriented Toro y Moi album yet with 2013's What For?, the always musically restless Chaz Bundick changed directions again. After a side trip to record some prog jazz with the Mattson 2 on early 2017's Star Stuff album, some soul-searching, and a name change to Chaz Bear, Toro y Moi took a big detour from power pop back to something more rooted in the chillwave sound Bear helped make a thing. Released in 2017, Boo Boo is a schizophrenic album that swings between static post-R&B balladry and peppy electro-funk, with Bear using space and distance on the former to create chilly atmospheres. Tracks like "Embarcadero" and "Pavement" are static and frozen, sounding like Frank Ocean tracks that were stored in an ice chest. Bear liberally borrows from subaquatic balladeers like Ocean and James Blake, but is also indebted to Prince and Daft Punk, with all the lightness and joy that implies. The ballads are balanced by a handful of songs that have some swagger and fun in the grooves, like the bobbing "Girl Like You" or the bubbling "Inside My Head," which has some seriously tough bass playing and one of Bear's best vocals. The instrumentation is frothy and borderline cheesy, and Bear sounds like he's having a blast. ~ Tim Sendra