Toby Hayes releases ‘Red’ – the final installment in a run of three EPs under his Laundromat moniker. Released via Brace Yourself Records, it opens with recent single ‘Flat Planet’, with Toby saying: ‘I kinda hear it like a St. Vincent song or something like that. Some tongue-in-cheek (but not) apocalyptic pop. An eye-roll pointed right back at us dumb humans. You know how you’re reading the news, and it’s facepalm after facepalm? This was a response to that feeling.’
You can hear where Toby’s coming from within seconds of the opening notes of ‘Flat Planet’, a fuzzy piece of art pop with elements of garage rock that find him lamenting the behavior of us and our ignorance when it comes to what we’re doing to our beautiful planet: ‘Pucker up, they’ll cut you down to size until there’s nobody left’. There is also talk of running amok amidst dollars and dimes before he repeats his view of us being responsible for ‘a universal facepalm’ and then showing off his shredding skills. Other touchpoints on the EP include films ranging from Repo Man to Punch-drunk Love and you can hear elements of both on the brooding and atmospheric ‘En Bloc’ – a dreamy piece that captures the spirit of Xiu Xiu.
‘Milky’ closes the EP in gently gliding, almost ambient style – but with backing vocals from Hannah Lou Clark and spoken-word samples about getting calls and featuring on Top of the Pops. ‘Red’ rounds off this run of EPs perfectly – let Laundromat’s sound wash all over you.
