#aol session

Toadies: Rubberneck (1994)

Aside from its glaringly obvious Pixies worship, Rubberneck has to be one of the most entertaining career one-offs (*) in ‘90s alternative rock -- none of the Toadies’ other albums can touch it, and I kinda like it that way.

The nervous, instrumental jitters of “Mexican Hairless” help make Vaden Todd Lewis’ hysterical/histrionic/schizophrenic vocals (he’s part Robin Zander, part Mark Mothersbaugh, part Frank Black, naturally) that much more entertaining, once he rages into “Mister Love,” “I Come from the Water” and “Happy Face.”

Of course the album’s pièce de résistance (**) is “Possum Kingdom” -- one of the best serial killer songs NOT written by a heavy metal band, and its variation from 4/4 to 7/4 time totally underscores the narrator’s mental imbalance:

“I can promise you, you’ll stay as beautiful With dark hair and soft skin, forever ... forever”

The only song that matches its awesome power, if you ask me, is the tense, yearning, emotionally riveting “Tyler,” which was written about a peeping tom in Tyler, Texas, but suggests two lovers on the lam:

“And in the morning, into Mexico, we will wake up ...” I hear her call out to me, I hear the fear in her voice She pulls the covers tighter, I press against the door I will be with her tonight!”

The only problem with Rubberneck is that the tracks not named above are pretty average and/or too derivative of, not just the Pixies, but Nirvana, but why should those similarities stop us from loving this LP?

* Verbena’s Into the Pink also comes to mind.

** I was reminded of the song’s long reach into the mainstream when American Idol graduate Chris Daughtry chose to cover it with this band for an AOL Session I oversaw in 2009.