TOAD TALES

Rip It Up, Issue 204, 1 August 1994, Page 10

TOAD TALES

The golden rule of rock journalism is five words wide — don’t ever talk to drummers.

Apparently they can’t speak cause all they want to do is hit things. Randy Guss keeps the stool warm for Californian band Toad The Wet Sprocket and he manages to make a slight dent in that castiron rule.

But as he lives beside a railway track, talks as fast (a work related condition?) as the trains that go

past in the background, and often doesn’t finish his sentences, we lose track of each other several times.

The four members of Toad The Wet Sprocket met at High School in Santa Barbara nine years ago. Like most teen bands they spent a lot of time in each other’s garages before opting for a more public arena. They did the rounds of local clubs before they could legally drink in them, eventually earning enough money to record their debut album Bread And Circus. The resulting sales allowed them to release a second LP, Pale, and only then did the

record companies come knocking. Despite this Guss believes waiting in the wings has played a major part in their longevity. “I think the fact that we were really young when we started and much older when we got successful has helped us. The whole long term philosophy we’ve had has been played out really well. We rejected many temptations that would’ve shortened our lifespan so we’re better prepared for any success the band may have in the future.”

Already they’ve tasted a considerable amount. After leaving college the band signed with Columbia Records, toured North America with Deborah Harry and the 852 s and recorded the platinum selling album Fear. On the road two members of the band discovered Dunedin’s dearly departed Straitjacket Fits. Their 1990 album Melt spent much time on the walkmans of guitarists Glen Phillips and Todd Nichols. When Toad returned to the studio they took with them producer Gavin McKillop, the man behind the controls during the Melt sessions.

Together they came up with Dulcinea, the title being taken from the story of Don Quixote. Dulcinea is the most lighthearted album they’ve made to date. Almost gone are the brooding and self-indul-gent songs of lost love, replaced with more uplifting or straight out rock ‘n’roll numbers. They even take a stab at country, ‘Nanci’ is a tribute of sorts to country & western stars Nanci Griffith and Loretta Lynn. Toad are poised to set off on another mammoth tour of the US and Europe to support the record. Living out of each other’s pockets for months on end is a situation that Guss can tolerate, but after all these years there’s still one thing about the band he can’t stand.

“I don’t like the name. The naming of the band was sort of an accident really. In the Monty Python skit it comes from they’re making fun of rock bands and Toad The Wet Sprocket is one of their bad band names. I guess it reminds us that by doing music we’re not doing any huge, important thing.”

JOHN RUSSELL