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Toadies have been around while; the band came together in 1989 in Fort Worth, releasing their debut album that same year. While that self-released disc Slaphead<\/i> didn\u2019t sell, they kept at it. And by \u201894 Toadies were signed with Interscope, and the band\u2019s major-label debut Rubberneck<\/i> went Platinum, topping the Heatseekers album chart. They seemed to be on their way.<\/p>\n
But it would be five years before Hell Below\/Stars Above<\/i> appeared, and it sold only a fraction of its predecessor. The group went inactive shortly thereafter. And that might have seemed the end of the Toadies story.<\/p>\n
Yet by 2006 the group returned, with three of the four members who had made Hell Below\/Stars Above<\/i>. The band released the well-regarded No Deliverance<\/i> in 2008, and have continued with the same lineup ever since. 2026\u2019s The Charmer<\/i> is the sixth album from the band in its second run.<\/p>\n
The melodic grunge of \u201cAsh\u2019s Theme\u201d opens the album. If the listener didn\u2019t know the tune was an instrumental, they might wait patiently for vocals to come in. But the track works without singing. \u201cCome to Life\u201d weds some tight vocal harmonies to a crunchy tune. There juxtaposition is a bit odd, but it\u2019s remarkably effective. The album\u2019s title track is built around some simple and straightforward riffing, and the stripped-down production aesthetic \u2013 almost demo-ish \u2013 provides the right sonic context for the tune.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a bit distressingly, the stuttering guitar figure that opens \u201cI Wanted to be Everywhere\u201d will strike many listeners as too familiar by half: \u201cDidn\u2019t all the previous songs open the same way?\u201d Thought of as a Toadies signature, it passes muster, but remains a bit worrisome nonetheless, at least for those who value variety. To be fair, the song does get more interesting as it unfolds.<\/p>\n
\u201cLong Time\u201d is more upbeat, and makes use of those curious harmony vocals again. \u201cI Walk a Line,\u201d on the other hand, serves up an uber-heavy riff that suggests early \u201870s hard rock, or perhaps Wolfmother. It\u2019s a bit of a jarring left turn, but a supremely effective one. No harmonies here, but then they\u2019d be terribly out of place if they did surface.<\/p>\n
The band shifts gears again for the acoustic-based \u201cGet Out of Your Head.\u201d There\u2019s a country-folk vibe here, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin II<\/i>. \u201cDamage\u201d is as close as Toadies come to power pop; catchy as hell, it\u2019s a highlight of The Charmer<\/i>. \u201cCloser to You\u201d rocks again in a \u201870s manner, but it\u2019s ultimately less effective than \u201cI Walk a Line,\u201d and Vaden Todd Lewis\u2019 vocals on the chorus border on grating.<\/p>\n
The intentionally sluggish \u201cNormal\u201d is some bad-trip blooz-rock, and it comes up a bit short lyrically with too many na-na-nas. Far more interesting is \u201cI Call Your Name,\u201d introduced not by a stuttering riff but by some tribal drums and atmospheric guitar runs. From there it\u2019s into traditional blues-rock riffage, delivered in swaggering, smoldering style. It\u2019s one of the best cuts on The Charmer<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The noisy, \u201cGasoline Jane\u201d ups the grunge quotient, which is fine for those who enjoy such things. Some harmonica-like guitar adds interest work The album closes with \u201cIn Bandages,\u201d reminiscent of Nirvana at their most understated and melodic. If \u201cIn Bandages\u201d points the way toward Toadies\u2019 future, I\u2019m there. But even if not, they do what they do well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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