Toad The Wet Sprocket
Pale
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Toad The Wet Sprocket
Pale
CBS, 1990
RiYL: R.E.M.’s Reckoning, The Connells, Uncle Green |
The overall tone of Pale is enticing. It doesn't elicit undue comparisons to other bands, and it establishes Toad as a talent. But the record keeps such a gloomy mood that it ends up only appealing to a small segment of the listening public.
If upbeat tempos and street credibility are crucial elements to your listening experience, look elsewhere. If you're looking for somber white-boy pop to cry to or fall asleep with, Pale may be your grail.
"High On A Riverbed" is an exercise in minimalism. Todd Nichols' spare guitar melody (complemented on piano by bassist Dean Dinning) establishes an incredibly slow-moving pace, and Phillips' somber vocal sets an austere tone to accompany it. Though everyone is playing, each member has a limited agenda, letting notes ring out and leaving mood-setting space within the groove.
While most of the record feeds off the understated, lazy sunday-morning tone, there are a few moments of rock. "Don't Go Away" magnifies its theme in the stately middle eight and blasts toward its end, and "Jam," at the center of the album, gives just enough gas to offset the surrounding gloom.
Next up is "Chile," a depressing song about political oppression in South America. The plodding beat supports Glen Phillips' mournful vocal, dropping fare such as "Be who you are, if it fits in the system / say what you will, you might die if they listen."
Penultimate track "Nothing Is Alone" rides Dinning's bouncing bass line and finally provides a glimpse of happiness in Toad's soul. But the beginning of "She Cried" finds its protagonist alone, mourning lost love ("Solitaire, such a fateful game..").
Pale's most developed track, "She Cried" builds up musically in accordance with the dissed girl's mindset. The song picks up steam through memories of her boyfriend and how he let her go. She then curses herself for believing in his love ("Should have known better..") as the music continues to flow with her mood. Phillips then belts out the theme "But how she cried" to the song's -- and album's -- end.
Toad The Wet Sprocket is the epitome of a mediocre pop band. The members do what they do well, but never make the evolutionary steps to greatness. Pale is a great period piece in that it shows the group in its early stages, before achieving mild success and long before dropping off the pop scene altogether. But in retrospect, one can't help hearing the band resign itself to its fate in the album's overall tone of melancholy.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.