When I think of labels that changed music both for myself and the entire landscape of the indie underground, I think of Crypt reissuing some of the best garage rock from the 1960s, then putting out albums by bands like The Gories, Oblivions, and various Billy Childish bands. I think of Troubleman in the early aughts getting everybody into no wave and dance punk. But the first label that always comes to mind is Flying Nun. The New Zealand label put out some of the greatest indie pop ever produced. Bands like The Clean, The Bats, and Tall Dwarfs. While those bands were the nucleus of the label, Toy Love's work has remained a bit more unnoticed, even though the band was composed of members of several of those now-iconic groups.
Now, Captured Tracks, a label never shy to show that they are record collecting nerds at heart, has signed a deal with Flying Nun to help reissue Toy Love, and a bunch of the label's back catalog to helpfully continue the label's influence on another generation of weirdos who want something to listen to. “Swimming Pool” is, at heart, a Bo Diddley beat with a down under sensibility. It sounds like rock-influenced bubblegum pop from the 60s gloriously mixed up with Television. And if it's a glimpse of what's to come, the relationship between Captured Tracks and Flying Nun will benefit us all in big ways.
