Toy Love "Live At The Gluepot 1980" LP

Toy Love’s music was in a constant state of formation and reformation throughout the band’s existence—songs would warp and twist with every playing. So, for all its undeniable power, it appeared unstable, almost fragile, threatening to burst out of its own skin, shards and globs all over the place. Every gig was like another attempt to make this strange creature hold together and live. At times, it would only take off at a few unpredictable points, at others it would lift off immediately and roar through the air, an astonishingly compelling and unlikely flying thing full of dark folds and flashes of light. The best stuff was transcendent, and the near-failures were so often funny or had the buzzy pathos of a crash site, one couldn’t look away.

This double-album captures the legendary band in September 1980 at The Gluepot in Ponsonby, Auckland—one of their final live performances. The recording was transferred and prepared for vinyl mastering by Steve McGough at Stebbings from a desk tape recorded by the band’s soundman Doug Hood.