Toadies: "No Deliverance"

Yup, Toadies. That Toadies.

Fourteen long years since “Possum Kingdom” first rocketed their career atop the last crest of the post-Nirvana grunge wave, and seven years since their sophomore effort Hell Below/Stars Above marked their demise long after the crash, Toadies are back. They’ve reunited sans original bassist Lisa Umbarger, which isn’t really a game-changer since replacement Doni Blair handles her simplistic style with ease, but it is odd considering Lisa was the reason for the group’s breakup in 2001. Jumping ship after (but not necessarily because of) the flop that was Hell Below, the other members—singer/guitarist Todd Lewis, guitarist Clark Vogeler, and drummer Mark Reznicek—called it quits, claiming they just couldn’t go on without her.

As it turns out, that’s not entirely true. And so, all these years later, they pick up exactly where they left off: not a single fucking thing has changed. “No Deliverance” sounds like a geriatric, recycled version of the same derivative shit, Lewis still unable or unwilling to move beyond Rubberneck‘s most simplistic grunge-isms, let alone capitalizing on what made “Possum Kingdom”—hell, even “Tyler,” despite blatantly ripping off “Where Is My Mind”—so singular and, frankly, un-Toadies.

In contrast, this is vintage just-as-you-remember-‘em-and-you-probably-don’t Toadies, as exciting and inspired as a rock band perpetually stuck in 1994 can be. It’s tepid three-chord blues-rock, limping along on a lazy Black Keys riff and all the inflected anger Lewis can muster. The distorted vocals in the verses are near laughable, and the chorus is a chugging bore, Lewis stuck growling the title over and over until, by song’s end, he’s a “leave the lady alone or I’ll gladly kick your ass” lyric away from being Chad Kroeger. And yeah, ok, that’s a little harsh; even in 2008 this anachronistic, totally unnecessary spell of déjà vu is leagues above Nickelback’s ilk, if just for Vogeler’s lead guitar, but…really, what does it say if that’s the biggest compliment I can bestow?

:: Stream