A Guide to the Toadies
A Guide to The Toadies
When talking about 90’s alternative rock, there are many bands that were swept under the rug by more popular bands, some (The Nixons, The Urge) deservedly so, others like the Toadies got swept away because they were away for so long; after coming back in 2001 after seven years, it was like they were obsolete. But after looking over their catalogue, it was clear that they were one of the best bands to emerge during the alternative era. In the 90’s, Texas had a strange scene going on, bringing us Rev. Horton Heat, Brutal Juice, Tripping Daisy, Course of Empire, Baboon, Deep Blue Something and others; Toadies, hailing from Dallas were one of the few bands from the area to break national and one of the only ones to still get radio play. By going through their discography, it should become clear to more than most that the band is still relevant and even the old stuff still sounds as good as it did in 1994.
Rubberneck (1994)
After releasing an EP, Pleather in 1993, the band signed with Interscope Records and entered the studio with Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, who were also producing Beck at the time. The band had the chops they needed, after forming in 1989 and playing around for years with various lineups. The classic lineup of vocalist/guitarist Todd Lewis, bassist Lisa Umbarger, drummer Mark Reznicek and guitarist Darrel Herbert had the skills necessary to pull off a classic alternative rock record. From heavy songs like the immortal “Tyler” and “I Come from the Water” to the slower crunch of “I Burn” and “Backslider,” this record has everything. Of course, the only song everyone concentrated on was “Possum Kingdom,” which is a good song but isn’t the best thing on the record. The song’s constant airplay helped the record to go platinum. At the time, everyone expected great things from the band, but time didn’t end up being the band’s friend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mevoO8UVbnw (Tyler)
No Deliverance (2008)
After some touring and a major lineup change, the Burden Brothers went on hiatus as Lewis relaunched the Toadies with Reznicek, Vogeler and bassist Mark Hughes. When it came time to tour for the record, Hughes had been replaced by Doni Blair, formerly of Hagfish. After another seven year layoff, perhaps the band’s lucky number, the interesting No Deliverance, released on former Deep Blue Something drummer John Kirtland’s indie label, surprised the hell out of everyone by debuting at #56 on the Billboard 200. The record gets off to a rousing start with the rollicking “So Long Lovey Eyes” and it gets just more interesting from there; the title track, which could pass for a Burden Brothers outtake, rocks like nothing off of Mercy. Lewis’ vocals are still strong and carry the rest of the band in line with him. Despite strong rockers like "Hell in High Water," one of the many highlights is the slow “Don’t Go My Way.” The band were warmly welcomed back by hungry fans and hopefully will stick around a bit longer this time around.
Feeler (2010)
After the ’96-’97 compilation songs, the band took a well-deserved break and then entered the studio in 1998 with Butthole Surfers guitarist Paul Leary. The result, to be titled Feeler, was supposed to be released later that year. But from what the band has said, they waited for Rubberneck mixer Andy Wallace to do the mix on Feeler and in the meantime, they turned in an unmixed version to the label, who promptly rejected it. The band then scrapped the songs and moved on to what became Hell Below/Stars Above. But in 2010, the band announced that they would be releasing the Feeler sessions on CD that summer. The announcement was met with wild enthusiasm from the fans who eagerly awaited to hear what Interscope thought was worth rejecting in 1998.
When the record was released in August of 2010, it turned out that the record contained re-recordings of a number of songs from the original Feeler, including “ATF” as well as a new song, “Trust Game.” Overall, the record seems like a bit of a jip, because there’s only nine songs on the record and it’s a total of twenty-eight minutes long. But upon further listen, there’s some really strong songs including “Suck Magic,” a very angry, loud song and probably the album’s theme song, “Waterfall,” which has all the earmarks of a classic Toadies song and is without a doubt, the strongest song here. Some of the songs sound like toss-offs but are still cool in their unique Toadies way like “Mine” while others like “Joey Let’s Go” and “Trust Game” just aren’t any interesting and bring the energy of the record down. While it’s cool that some of these songs finally saw a proper release, I think it would’ve been better if the band had included more songs or possibly had released the original ’98 sessions but in a way this is the best for what’s available rather than what’s not.
When talking about 90’s alternative rock, there are many bands that were swept under the rug by more popular bands, some (The Nixons, The Urge) deservedly so, others like the Toadies got swept away because they were away for so long; after coming back in 2001 after seven years, it was like they were obsolete. But after looking over their catalogue, it was clear that they were one of the best bands to emerge during the alternative era. In the 90’s, Texas had a strange scene going on, bringing us Rev. Horton Heat, Brutal Juice, Tripping Daisy, Course of Empire, Baboon, Deep Blue Something and others; Toadies, hailing from Dallas were one of the few bands from the area to break national and one of the only ones to still get radio play. By going through their discography, it should become clear to more than most that the band is still relevant and even the old stuff still sounds as good as it did in 1994.
Rubberneck (1994)After releasing an EP, Pleather in 1993, the band signed with Interscope Records and entered the studio with Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, who were also producing Beck at the time. The band had the chops they needed, after forming in 1989 and playing around for years with various lineups. The classic lineup of vocalist/guitarist Todd Lewis, bassist Lisa Umbarger, drummer Mark Reznicek and guitarist Darrel Herbert had the skills necessary to pull off a classic alternative rock record. From heavy songs like the immortal “Tyler” and “I Come from the Water” to the slower crunch of “I Burn” and “Backslider,” this record has everything. Of course, the only song everyone concentrated on was “Possum Kingdom,” which is a good song but isn’t the best thing on the record. The song’s constant airplay helped the record to go platinum. At the time, everyone expected great things from the band, but time didn’t end up being the band’s friend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mevoO8UVbnw (Tyler)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Cf5OusjrQ (Possum Kingdom)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlPU002xHbE (Mister Love)
In 1996, the band and Herbert parted ways; he ended up joining the Tomorrowpeople and was replaced by Clark Vogeler, formerly of major-label also-rans Sweetness. Before that change occurred, the band recorded essentially an EP’s worth of songs for soundtracks and compilations, including “Paper Dress” for “The Crow: City of Angels,” “Unattractive” for “The Cable Guy,” “Cut Me Out” for “Escape from L.A.,” an excellent cover of the Talking Heads’ “I’m Not in Love” for “Basquiat,” a cover of “Goolie Get-Together” for a compilation of Saturday morning kids’ songs and an interesting cover of “Beauty School Dropout” for a Texas tribute to “Grease,” perhaps their only recording as a trio.
Hell Below/Stars Above (2001)
Upon finally reentering the studio to record after a false start in 1998, they wrote new songs and began the process of recording all over again. The result, 2001’s Hell Below/Stars Above was recorded in early 2000 with Rubberneck producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf but it was not released until the spring of 2001, a delay that cannot be explained. The songs are still crunchy but don’t have the same ring as the predecessor. Tracks like the “Possum Kingdom” soundalike “You’ll Come Down” and the amazing title track, which features barely audible piano work from Elliott Smith, in what may be one of his last recorded appearances, it seems the band are just treading over the same ground they already demolished seven years before. While the record is not lacking in hooks, the songs just are not as memorable. Some songs from Feeler were reworked into presentable form but overall, the record makes you want to pull out Rubberneck again.
Best of Toadies: Live from Paradise (2002)
In August 2001, a mere four months after the record was released, bassist Lisa Umbarger decided to quit. The statement at the time was that without Lisa, Todd and the rest of the guys wouldn’t continue as the Toadies, so they disbanded. In the fall of 2002, the indie label Azera released Best of Toadies: Live From Paradise, recorded in Boston during the Hell Below tour. The band is ragged and sound tired, but still come across brutal and fierce. The noteworthy things about this record are the crowd singing all of “Tyler,” a virtual recreation of the recorded version of “Paper Dress,” “ATF,” a discarded instrumental from the Feeler sessions and a so-so cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” With that the band disappeared.
In the downtime, Clark Vogeler became an editor in Los Angeles, working on “Project Runway” and other shows, Mark Reznicek played around Texas, Lisa Umbarger became a massage artist and Todd Lewis formed the Burden Brothers with former Rev. Horton Heat drummer Taz Bentley and GWAR bassist Casey Orr. Over the course of two albums, 2003’s fantastic Buried in Your Black Heart and 2006’s woefully disappointing Mercy, the band blazed through standard alt-rock in the Toadies vein with a dash of 21st century alt-metal thrown in for good measure.
In 1996, the band and Herbert parted ways; he ended up joining the Tomorrowpeople and was replaced by Clark Vogeler, formerly of major-label also-rans Sweetness. Before that change occurred, the band recorded essentially an EP’s worth of songs for soundtracks and compilations, including “Paper Dress” for “The Crow: City of Angels,” “Unattractive” for “The Cable Guy,” “Cut Me Out” for “Escape from L.A.,” an excellent cover of the Talking Heads’ “I’m Not in Love” for “Basquiat,” a cover of “Goolie Get-Together” for a compilation of Saturday morning kids’ songs and an interesting cover of “Beauty School Dropout” for a Texas tribute to “Grease,” perhaps their only recording as a trio.
Hell Below/Stars Above (2001)Upon finally reentering the studio to record after a false start in 1998, they wrote new songs and began the process of recording all over again. The result, 2001’s Hell Below/Stars Above was recorded in early 2000 with Rubberneck producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf but it was not released until the spring of 2001, a delay that cannot be explained. The songs are still crunchy but don’t have the same ring as the predecessor. Tracks like the “Possum Kingdom” soundalike “You’ll Come Down” and the amazing title track, which features barely audible piano work from Elliott Smith, in what may be one of his last recorded appearances, it seems the band are just treading over the same ground they already demolished seven years before. While the record is not lacking in hooks, the songs just are not as memorable. Some songs from Feeler were reworked into presentable form but overall, the record makes you want to pull out Rubberneck again.
Best of Toadies: Live from Paradise (2002)In August 2001, a mere four months after the record was released, bassist Lisa Umbarger decided to quit. The statement at the time was that without Lisa, Todd and the rest of the guys wouldn’t continue as the Toadies, so they disbanded. In the fall of 2002, the indie label Azera released Best of Toadies: Live From Paradise, recorded in Boston during the Hell Below tour. The band is ragged and sound tired, but still come across brutal and fierce. The noteworthy things about this record are the crowd singing all of “Tyler,” a virtual recreation of the recorded version of “Paper Dress,” “ATF,” a discarded instrumental from the Feeler sessions and a so-so cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” With that the band disappeared.
In the downtime, Clark Vogeler became an editor in Los Angeles, working on “Project Runway” and other shows, Mark Reznicek played around Texas, Lisa Umbarger became a massage artist and Todd Lewis formed the Burden Brothers with former Rev. Horton Heat drummer Taz Bentley and GWAR bassist Casey Orr. Over the course of two albums, 2003’s fantastic Buried in Your Black Heart and 2006’s woefully disappointing Mercy, the band blazed through standard alt-rock in the Toadies vein with a dash of 21st century alt-metal thrown in for good measure.
No Deliverance (2008)After some touring and a major lineup change, the Burden Brothers went on hiatus as Lewis relaunched the Toadies with Reznicek, Vogeler and bassist Mark Hughes. When it came time to tour for the record, Hughes had been replaced by Doni Blair, formerly of Hagfish. After another seven year layoff, perhaps the band’s lucky number, the interesting No Deliverance, released on former Deep Blue Something drummer John Kirtland’s indie label, surprised the hell out of everyone by debuting at #56 on the Billboard 200. The record gets off to a rousing start with the rollicking “So Long Lovey Eyes” and it gets just more interesting from there; the title track, which could pass for a Burden Brothers outtake, rocks like nothing off of Mercy. Lewis’ vocals are still strong and carry the rest of the band in line with him. Despite strong rockers like "Hell in High Water," one of the many highlights is the slow “Don’t Go My Way.” The band were warmly welcomed back by hungry fans and hopefully will stick around a bit longer this time around.
Feeler (2010)After the ’96-’97 compilation songs, the band took a well-deserved break and then entered the studio in 1998 with Butthole Surfers guitarist Paul Leary. The result, to be titled Feeler, was supposed to be released later that year. But from what the band has said, they waited for Rubberneck mixer Andy Wallace to do the mix on Feeler and in the meantime, they turned in an unmixed version to the label, who promptly rejected it. The band then scrapped the songs and moved on to what became Hell Below/Stars Above. But in 2010, the band announced that they would be releasing the Feeler sessions on CD that summer. The announcement was met with wild enthusiasm from the fans who eagerly awaited to hear what Interscope thought was worth rejecting in 1998.
When the record was released in August of 2010, it turned out that the record contained re-recordings of a number of songs from the original Feeler, including “ATF” as well as a new song, “Trust Game.” Overall, the record seems like a bit of a jip, because there’s only nine songs on the record and it’s a total of twenty-eight minutes long. But upon further listen, there’s some really strong songs including “Suck Magic,” a very angry, loud song and probably the album’s theme song, “Waterfall,” which has all the earmarks of a classic Toadies song and is without a doubt, the strongest song here. Some of the songs sound like toss-offs but are still cool in their unique Toadies way like “Mine” while others like “Joey Let’s Go” and “Trust Game” just aren’t any interesting and bring the energy of the record down. While it’s cool that some of these songs finally saw a proper release, I think it would’ve been better if the band had included more songs or possibly had released the original ’98 sessions but in a way this is the best for what’s available rather than what’s not.
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