Newspaper Page Text
Page 6
Flagpole Magazine
November 20, 1991
Impressions of Toad the Wet Sprocket
Something to say
Inasense, Toad the Wet Sprocket began
long before their official founding, which
took place when singer and lyricist Glen
Phillips joined three high school associ
ates; guitarist Todd Nichols, bass player
Dean Dining and drummer Randy Guss, in
1986. They began playing what Glen now
calls “repulsively bad songs."
Glen began playing guitar and writing
songs the summer after 7th grade, having
been inspired to take up music by an older
brother who played guitar. After about a
year and a half of practice in one storage
building or another around their homes in
Santa Barbara, they began to take it all
more seriously, leading to the fateful deci
sion to get a permanent name in order to
play the talent night at a local bar. Dean had
always wanted a band called Toad the Wet
Sprocket, having liked the absurd Monty
Python routine about the band of 100 disso
lutions and reformations, and thus Toad the
Wet Sprocket they became
Their first album, Bread & Circus, self-
financed and recorded in 30 hours without
an outside producer, belies all the usual
truths about very young bands and the
quality of recordings they make. The first
1000 copies, released on the Abe’s label,
sold out and gained Toad local radio play,
leading to a record label bidding war. In the
end, the band was signed by mega-major
CBS, with the stipulation that the album was
to be released exactly as they had re
corded it. Their emotionally honest song-
writing and melodic acoustically-based rock
style drew positive reviews and compari
sons to R.E.M., The Smiths and other criti
cally revered artists.
The second album, Pale, also recorded
prior to the CBS affiliation, saw the addition
of producer Marvin Etziom, but again made
minimal use of studio wizardry. As with
Bread & Circus, only background vocals
and additional instruments which couldn't
be played live
while the tape ran
were added to the
tracks. Again, the
blend of intelli
gent and grace
ful guitar rock with
intense personal
and political sub
ject matter led to
good reviews and
increased popu
larity.
Toad toured
extensively atte'
Pale, playing both
clubs and as an
opening band for
acts including
Debby Harry and
Ziggy Marley
(neither of which they sound anything like),
but the ultimate weird pairing must have
been with the B52s. To the band's surprise,
they were very well-received by the B52
audience in spite of Glen’s acknowledge
ment that they "may have been slightly out
of place” while playing for people who were
waiting to dance to “Planet Claire."
One of my best concert memories is of
Toad playing Max's on Broadway, an excel
lent club in Baltimore’s historic Fell’s Point
area, during their 1990 tour. Theirdemeanor
was relaxed and friendly between songs
and there was none of the on-stage ego that
marks many bands Lead guitarist Todd
Nichols seldom emerged from the stage-
left shadows, while
Dean Dining re
mained absorbed
in his playing of
whichever instru
ment of the several
he played during
the show
The most en
gaging performers
by far were behind
the microphone
and the drum kit.
Glen is a talented
singer both techni
cally and in his
ability to convey
the emotion of a
song. His voice
ranged from clear
and soothing on
the more quiet numbers to a near-scream
crescendo on the louder and more highly
charted ones.
I spoke with Glen Phillips about the
band and their music after the release of
Pale and again this past September when
their third album, Fear, the first real “studio"
work by the band, had just come out The
new songs continue to present both the
beauty and the pain which life reveals to the
observant soul, but now with the addition of
numerous overdubs, resulting in a far more
lush sound than was present on their previ
ous albums. “It comes from the same piace,
but it’s the next step down the road," is his
summary of the new relaease.
The overall tone is lighter on Fear than
on their earlier records, but there remains a
dark subtext. The uncertainty about what
follows the certainty of death, which has
been a recurring theme in their previous
work, is still there. On Pale, the song "What
I Think About" directly acknowledges the
universal human fear of postmortem
nonexistence. Fear's "Pray Your Gods"
contrasts the fear-inspiring "quick and ruth
less punishers" of organized religious tradi
tion with the comforting nature of human
love in the face of death Religious oolerr-
ics are not part of Toad's work, but the
spiritual aspect of life is often explored in
their songs. Even in the current single, "Is It
For Me,' which is overtly about a minor
teenage adventure gone wrong, the lines
“and through the door/What do I see 9 /
something is happenmg/is it for me 9 " give
one the impression that if there is not an
actual supernatural element present, there
is at least a moment of alternate reality to be
contemplated later.
Toad the Wet Sprocket also has the
sensitivity and decency to address the
usually ignored issue of sexism in several of
their songs. From the compassionate treat
ment of a lonely woman sitting in a bar to
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