Stephen Montoya
North Texas rock legends the Toadies, have gone to pot, literally with the release of the band’s new edible collaboration with Texas High Country. This commemorative box titled “Do You Wanna High” contains, another Toadies pun “I Come From The Watermelon” in the form of a watermelon/prickly pear Delta 9, 10 mg THC gummy and was released on — you guessed it — 4/20. This announcement, along with the Toadies’ release of their first single “Dig A Hole/I Hope You Die” on vinyl is sure to please many a hardcore fan. But these two announcements fail in comparison to what the fabulous foursome has in store this summer.
According to a release, the Toadies are set to enter the studio to do work on their new album with iconic music producer Steve Albini (The Pixies, Nirvana, PJ Harvey). This is only fitting given the fact that the Toadies have come full circle from emulating the sound of many of the bands Albini helped produce including the aforementioned Pixies, to actually working with the famed producer himself. In fact, the re-release of the band’s first single has an homage feel to this very scenario.
Toadies
Originally only available on a self-released cassette thirty years ago, it’s no longer the mythical out-of-print first release collectors and fans pined over. ‘Dig A Hole/I Hope You Die’ has been remixed and remastered by Chris “Frenchie” Smith and is available on vinyl for the first time. This release features the tracks on a one-sided colored 12” vinyl with a Toadies logo etched on the B-side, as well as extensive liner notes.
“This tape changed my life,” says Toadies drummer Mark Reznicek in a release. “Oh sure, you hear people say this or that record changed their life all the time, but in this case, I mean it literally. Tracey Sauerwein (who shortly thereafter became the Toadies guitarist) gave me the Dig A Hole/Hope You Die cassette and told me the Toadies sounded kinda like the Pixies. I put the tape on, turned up the volume… and had my mind blown. They didn’t sound kinda like the Pixies. They sounded exactly like the Pixies. And I [expletive] loved it! I immediately played the tape again. Then, again and again, several more times. I called Tracey raving about how amazing this two-song tape by an unknown local band from Ft. Worth really was. She just laughed and said, ‘I told ya!’ When the band started holding auditions for a new drummer, I landed the job and have been there ever since. All because I fell in love with this tape. And that’s why I can truthfully and quite literally say: This tape changed my life.”
The Toadies lineup on this rare first recording includes Vaden Todd Lewis, (who wrote and produced the songs) on vocals and guitar; Charles Mooney III on lead guitar; Lisa Umbager on bass; and Michael Jerome Moore on drums and percussion. Lewis, Mooney, and Umbarger met while working together at the record store chain Sound Warehouse in Ft. Worth where the cassette was originally sold by the band members themselves outside of live shows. This release marks the first time this single will be commercially available, as well as the first time it will be released on vinyl and digitally.
Stephen Montoya
As for new music, The Toadies will enter the studio with Albini to record their next album late this summer.
Toadies guitarist Clark Vogeler says, “There are records in each of our collections that were recorded by Steve Albini and which mean the world to us. The sound he brought to records like The Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, capture the feeling of being in a room with a band while they play (quite loudly, it would appear). A personal fave, Wedding Present’s Seamonsters saved me in a way that no other record has. The emotion of the songs just pours out of the speakers. His recordings of bands are honest; there’s not much in the way of Pro Tools fixing (he records to tape) or studio trickery (no autotune in sight!). It’s mostly just a band in a room with microphones, playing the songs, and that appeals to us at this point. We’ve always felt like we could deliver live, so why not record the band live?”
The new set is planned for a 2024 release with details to be announced while the band is in talks with new labels. Prior to entering the studio, Toadies will have their first live outing of 2023 on a small run of Southeast dates surrounding Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival on May 5. The fest lineup also includes Robert Plant, Lumineers, The Roots, The Struts etc.
