Liverpool alt-rock four-piece Toy Car release their highly anticipated debut album ‘Cream’ with life-affirming single “Fishes” leading the charge. After a whirlwind of festival appearances and national radio attention, the band delivers an elaborate and determined collection built on stadium-sized riffs, hook-laden choruses and lines that hit like confessions shouted through a megaphone. Following electrifying sets at Y Not Festival and Isle of Wight Festival, Toy Car have carved their name onto the list of the UK alternative scene’s ones to watch.
Produced and mixed by Ben Harper at Liverpool’s iconic Motor Museum Studios, ‘Cream’ captures ten tracks of raw urgency, social edge and big-room intentions. The band offers soul-bearing lyricism reminiscent of Wunderhorse and a natural drift into stadium-sized choruses alongside The 1975. With support from BBC Radio 1, Radio X, Earmilk, and a sync feature on Made in Chelsea, Toy Car have proven themselves worthy of media and public attention as a band constructing songs wrought with emotion, whether in hope, sorrow or elation.
At the heart of the album sits “Fishes”, a soaring emotional alt-rock anthem built for the long nights of winter and the long days of summer to come. “Fishes is a confession. It’s someone asking for help,” says frontman Shaun Hough. “The other character is down to interpretation, but Fishes comes from a point of if people start talking, things can get better. It’s a pretty blunt reminder to live life, because we don’t know what’s waiting just around the corner.”
Toy Car’s blend of high-energy alt-rock and lyrical vulnerability draws from influences like Cage the Elephant, The Strokes, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, making them a must-see live band. Hough adds context to the album’s themes: “Lyrically, Cream is about growing up and finding your place in a world full of noise and opinions. It’s a rollercoaster, there’s something for everyone here. This record is about frustration with ourselves, with the idea that things get better just because you want them to. We didn’t want to play it safe, we wanted to challenge the room.”