by Ryan J. Nims
In the mid-90s, it was pretty hard to get away from The Toadies and their infectious hit song “Possum Kingdom.” The song is a dark, folkloric number in which the narrator invites an unsuspecting victim to join them in the afterlife. Named after Possum Kingdom Lake near DFW, the song is as cryptic as it is catchy – the perfect song for angsty Gen-Xers!
Coming out of the burgeoning Dallas/Fort Worth music scene, Toadies began life in 1989, independently releasing a couple of EPs: Slaphead in 1989 and Pleather in 1993. But it was their debut album, Rubberneck (Interscope, 1994) that put the band on the map. Made up of singer/guitarist Vaden Todd Lewis, drummer Mark Reznicek, Darrel Herbert on lead guitar, and Lisa Umbarger on bass, the band went into the studio with Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, who had earlier in the year worked with Beck on his wildly successful album Mellow Gold. Lyrically, Rubberneck is dark and angry; musically, it is heavy grunge with a character that is unmistakably Texan.
Rubberneck opens with the country-punk instrumental “Mexican Hairless,” which leads directly into the grungy rocker “Mister Love,” a song originally released as an independent single in 1993.“Backslider” follows, with a start-stop guitar refrain behind Lewis’s quiet-loud vocal performance.Next up is the aforementioned single “Possum Kingdom.”
Other key tracks include “Away,” the raucous “I Come From the Water,” and “Tyler,” another dark song that seems to recall a home invasion.
The album closer “I Burn” is about a self-immolating cult. (Lewis states that the narrator of “Possum Kingdom” is one of these cult members, who is “just smoke, and he goes to Possum Kingdom and tries to find somebody to join him”).
My first pressing of Rubberneck (pictured) might be one of my most valuable records according to Discogs, had a puppy not chewed the corner off it as well as several other records in the crate. I ended up getting the record signed by the current lineup, and have become less upset about the chewed-on jacket.
Toadies have released six albums in the years since Rubberneck, and have continued to tour. I have seen them twice–most recently at Emo’s in 2022–and I can confirm they still give every bit of energy as I imagine they did 30 years ago! Currently the lineup consists of Lewis, Reznicek, guitarist Clark Vogeler, and bassist Doni Blair.