Sometimes you don’t need a history lesson or background to explain why an album is good. The Toadies were a good alternative band who had a hit with Possum Kingdom but never really broke into the big time, which is a shame because they were a very good band.
The album starts with “Mexican Hairless”, which is an energetic, punk inspired short little instrumental. Spare of interrupting vocals it is tight and bounces up and down. The whole album has a great feeling of a little kid and this is an enjoyable party album. On the pumping eccentric “Mister Love” we are introduced to vocalist Todd Lewis, who has a suitable grungy growl. His performance on this album ranges from mellow slacker on tracks like “Tyler” to vicious howling on the fantastic “Quitter”. The lyrics focus on psychedlia but a theme of perverse love runs through. “Possum Kingdom” is a bizarre track about begging/threatening for sex, “Quitter” is obviously about a ruined relationship and “Happyface” is retaliation to someone who has deeply hurt the voice. The band excels at fun, punky, catchy tunes and I’d describe their sound as somewhere between Green Day and Nirvana, with a healthy dose of Cheap Trick in their too.
Finally “I Burn” is a trippy, slow burning finale. The album is barely a half hour but has a great deal of fun and catchy hooks over its short duration as is worth looking up.
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