We're a decade out from Kurt Cobain's fateful dance with a shotgun. Last you heard, Margot retired from Microsoft at 28 and reads the Sunday New York Times with her boyfriend and their golden retriever. Becca, last you heard, was still playing "real music" in a post-post-post-punk riot emo grrl band when she's not in drug rehab. And now, here, we have the musical descendants of Pearl Jam and Toad pounding out of the radio 24/7: Hoobastank and Counting Crows. Both, apparently, produced shoddy offspring. So why does Toad get the beatdown while the grungefathers skate by free?
I implore you, give Toad the Wet Sprocket one more chance, especially if you are feeling a need for shoe-looking lyrics without the accidental minor sixths. Pick up Ps: A Toad Retrospective. Yes, it's the same three songs with different chords, but they really were trying hard. It's not a meat course, but it's perfect for that multi-day transcontinental car trip. Wyoming is boring, repetitive, and inoffensive. Was there ever a better soundtrack for the state?
And if you have a new baby that just won't go to sleep, try Pale!
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Thanks and welcome Dylan, very nice post! Toad was sort of samey but as you say no more so than most, and their best material is warm, melodic and makes a killer greatest hits package. they wee the alt-Eagles of the '90s.
2 - Lono
Toad rules! I have seen them about 5 times, including 2 solo shows from Glenn. I would recommend finding 'acoustic dance party' from them. It is a live acoustic set which is a quasi-greatest hits. It's an EP though so there are only 5 or 6 songs... but it would be a wise investment.
take care and welcome,
Lono
3 - dw
Thanks for the compliments. I'm afraid that I was a little too snarky there at the end, so let me reiterate that one should click on the link to PS and buy it post-haste.
At some point in the future I'll write them up for their most heinous sin: Being the primary influence of Jars of Clay, the band that destroyed Christian music....
4 - Fed Clerk
I compliment the sentiment but take issue with the assertion that Toad was boring or repetitive. Each Toad album has its own style and sound, and Toad concerts have a unique energy rarely seen today or then (even absent a good buzz).
Toad has gotten a raw deal. Toad's only crime was being introspective without the affect.
5 - Carrick
been a huge fan of Toad since 93 and will play these records for years to come. I highly recomend all of heir work *except* PS, which was a shoddy last attept by their label to ink money out of their fans.
I also highly recomend Glen's new album "Winter Pays For Summer", one of the best singer-songwriter records since the 70's when Jackson Browne was on the top of the charts.
6 - Jorge Moreno
I discovered Toad late, i.e. circa 1999. Since then I became a fan who has shared this excellent discovery with those who, like me, did not had the exposure to good alternate rock in the 90s and were in the middle of the rap-kids-grundge-hiphopagain era.
They sound great today, each piece is different, each work is pullished, each song is delicate and elegant, or hard but with well developed music.
Some weeks ago a new station started around (Fresh FM) and from time to time they play the classic "All I want"... it sounds recent but it is almost 12 years old!
Give TTWS other chance? Of course they have it!
Best!
Jorge Moreno
7 - Zach Schreiber
While GNR were picking up speed, I was fortunate enough to encounter this quiet, introspective band in its youth. For the next decade I wore out several copies of each cassette (until upgrading to CD) while I awaited their next release. 1000's of listens later, their music is still relevant, and fresh, and as inspiring as ever.
To call them boring is an insult that they shouldn't have to tolerate. And I can't see how you can listen to their albums, have such nice things to say about them, and then say that all of their music sounds the same. I fully believe that their catalog has the same appeal as any of the groups that I've collected over time. Perhaps it is in the repetition that we learn to love and appreciate bands such as Toad for the subtle nuances that only they can offer (and only their die-hard fans spend enough time paying attention to).
I can only hope that their recent release of revisits gives them enough exposure to entice a new audience to give their past offerings a shot. (Welcome back Toad. I hope you'll consider a trip through the Midwest after you're done with Florida and Hawaii.)
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Must say, you're blog is written very well. I loved the interjection of Margot & Becca. Lived it. Loved it. :)
Thanks,
Zach