Review of Ice Cream Truckin' from Performer Magazine by Will Morgan

Ice Cream Truckin's one-sheet says to file the record under "cutetronica" or "toy pop," but "smile-inducingly innovative" and "flat-out adorable" would be just as appropriate. Mike Langlie, alias Twink, has kept Boston beaming over the years with his collection of toy pianos and saccharine ditties, but this go-round he hands the reins over to a host of electronic musicians and producers to dip their fingers into the musical mold. The result is relentlessly satisfying—a Baskin-Robbins on tape, crammed with 19 different flavors whose samples are just as delicious on record as they are on a spoon. The head bopping and hand clapping begin instantaneously with "Softee," Twink's interpretation of the Mister Softee theme song. Like an ice cream truck emerging from around the corner, the song's lone, distant toy piano line slowly takes on a more promising shape as Twink adds multiple layers in his only full contribution to the album. Synthesized pings and droplets, convoluted bass lines, and marching drum patterns are quintessential Twink touches.

The ride truly begins on the second track, "Razzmatazz," produced by Playsoundz, a.k.a. Blaik Ripton, as a Nintendo-circa-1993 electronic whirl launches the song into abstract toy piano breakdowns. Dance beats emerge in Milk Monster's "Slush Bunny," pulsing underneath a rather simplistic piano melody and occasionally inserting snare hits and wood block clunks to color the already vivid mix.

Ergo Phizmiz sends the album into a more bizarre direction on "Peanut Butter Crunch," where various samples jar the song's rhythm in the most entrancing of ways. Theremin, vocal samples, kazoos, drum 'n bass, and break beats characterize the next several numbers, with Evan Morris' "Plastic Spoon" being the standout, thanks to a darkly atmospheric and diffracted tone. "Rocket Pop," the handiwork of Mochipet, has an almost Autechre personality to it. MNK's "Mint Chip" deviates most radically from Twink's foundation, adding a moody, trance-like synth wash. "Strawberry Swirl," by nonnon, plods along with an atonal bass beat, while the album wraps up on a thoroughly raucous note with, fittingly, "Ice Cream Headache," featuring distorted guitar work from The Hidden's Dan Brockman.

Ice Cream Truckin' masterfully evades redundancy by incorporating a full spectrum of production flourishes and keeping each song's sugar high generally below three minutes. With his most recent effort, Twink masterfully reinforces his status as one of the Northeast's most patently original artists.