Toadies, Local H, y Sparta

I write this while rockin’ out to Hell Below/Stars Above, at first impression, just the Toadies’ sophomore album but, after becoming better acquainted with their history, you’ll find is a heart-breaking tale of corruption, greed, and a betrayal most foul.

Maybe that’s a little dramatic, but if the Toadies are anything, they’re certainly that... oh, and creepy. Almost socially acceptably creepy. Consider “Jigsaw Girl” (honestly playing at this moment), track nine from the album, which chronicles the adventure of a gentleman who has turned his lady into a human puzzle. And though you may feel something like guilt, their backwoodsy brand of rock makes it worth laughing about.

Hell Below was actually not written as their second album. The tracks meant to be, after a long struggle with Interscope Records, were finally released as Feeler in August of 2010, 15 years after they’d intended. Rubberneck, their debut album, contains their most well-known tracks and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2014 with a special re-release on 120 gram vinyl containing five previously unreleased tracks, a supporting tour for which they performed the entire album from start to finish, and their own beer, Rubberneck Red. Every summer they host a carefully curated 2-day festival called Dia De Los Toadies. The location seems to change every few years, but you can always count on hearing the best music Texas has to offer while reclining in a tube on the river, enjoying a cold beer.

The members of Toadies are all passionate about music and are associated with other creative endeavors. Vaden Todd Lewis (vocals/guitar) also played with Dallas-based Burden Brothers. Drummer Mark “Rez” Reznicek has released a four-part comic series, Buzzkill, about a superhero who has to overcome addiction. Doni Blair, bassist, was in Hagfish and Mag Seven prior to joining Toadies and is an instructor for School of Rock in Lubbock. Clark Vogeler, guitarist, won an Emmy for his editing contributions on Project Runway and the documentary, Bombay Beach, which he also worked on, was named the Best Documentary at the 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival.

Every Toadies performance is better than the last and they continue to surprise audiences with unexpected covers and maybe even some gymnastics. I’ve heard them turn “Heart of Glass” by Blondie into a morose ballad; amplify the energy in “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads; and give The Cure’s “A Forest” a savage edge. It has become a tradition to invite all the drummers back onstage for a dramatic performance of “I Burn,” which always has every lighter in the venue raised in solidarity and whatever primal urges the penetrating bass rhythm reawakens.

While they try new styles and subject matter, even occasionally waxing philosophical (give “We Burned the City Down” a spin), they remain true to their growling, swamp-thing sound and make me proud to “come from the water”.

Local H started in the early 90s, right before grunge exploded into the mainstream. While they are certainly part of that grunge scene, their music was more raw and closer to punk than most mainstream grunge bands. Over time though, the band has grown quite a bit and part of that growth was a bit of a mellowing out.
Make no mistake, they are still a hard band but the hardness is now tempered by more melodies and changes in tempo to make the music more complex and appealing.There are only two members, guitarist and singer Scott Lucas and drummer Ryan Harding, who only rather recently joined. The duo manage to produce a sound much deeper than you'd expect from just a guitar and drums. The playing is hard and usually quite fast.
Also surprising for just two member, one of whom is stuck behind a drum set, is that they still manage to put on a good show. Part of this is due to the audience and their loyal fan base who keep up the energy but Scott does a good job of drawing attention to his guitar playing which is somewhat reminiscent of Green Day's Billy Joe Armstrong's low slung bass and strong, vertical strumming.The music is still hard and even with the changes and growth, Scott has managed to keep things true to the band's original hardcore and punk/grunge mix of sounds.
They definitely put on a good show and anyone interested in hearing what the local music scene sounded like before acts like Nirvana and Pearl Jam got famous should check them out.

It’s a tough gig being the sensible ones in a band fronted by complete mentalists. Jim Ward, Tony Hajjar and Paul Hinojos probably had it tougher than anyone else as the rhythm guitarist, drummer and bassist (respectively) in one of the most influential punk bands of the last twenty years, At The Drive-In. It says a lot about the sheer amount of chaos that they created that the only reason why their new band Sparta could ever be considered sedate is in comparison to them. On their own merits, Sparta are a seething, pummelling post-hardcore band whose sound, equally accessible and serrated, lends itself perfectly to the live arena, with Jim Wards given far more room to show off what an expressive and commanding voice he has than he ever did in his old band. The bands live performance is also far more focused than the band that they made their name in, which means that every performance they put in is passionate, intense and deeply exciting. Not to mention how this band remains very much a cult concern, so every show they put on is a chance to see some of the true pioneers of underground rock do what they do best mere metres away from your very eyes. The band are currently busy making their fourth album but once they return they’ll be better than ever and a truly unmissable sight for any fan of emotional, intelligent rock and roll.