REVIEW: Toad The Wet Sprocket, Coil (Columbia)

- Bob Gajarsky

Cursed with a name they'd rather not discuss, Toad the Wet Sprocket have returned to the music scene with their sixth album, Coil.

The name - taken from an obscure Monty Python skit - has become synonymous with solid hooks and thoughtful writings. While their first two records (Bread and Circus and Pale) sold only to a small core group of fans, the breakthrough smash "All I Want" helped propel Fear to a larger audience.

As one of the bands that have helped define the Adult Alternative radio format (by their own records and those who have followed with a similar sound, such as Hootie), it would be expected that Toad would have achieved a more mainstream status. Still, although Fear marked a departure from their first two discs, the band has never had an album sell millions of copies and ironically, have retained more integrity among their fans.

The straight-ahead formula which Toad has employed on their last two 'new' discs, Dulcinea and Fear, continues unabated with Coil; a definite line between simple, but addictive 'quiet' rock and softer, more intimate songs. And just as those two discs took repeated spins to grow on this critic, it look several times listening to Coil before realising that this is just as strong a record as those previous two issues.

As is their wont, Toad express themselves with incisive, meaninful lyrics as well as in their sounds. The rocking "Whatever I Fear" is a tale which shows not only that you can go home again, but that you don't have to leave to 'grow up', while the chorus for "Amnesia" is based on the Rev. Martin Niemoller quote from World War 2, "I Didn't Speak Up".

The hidden gem of this disc could be "Crazy Life", which swaps the usual lead vocals of Glen Phillips for those of guitarist Todd Nichols. From a musical standpoint, this combines R.E.M.'s "Drive" with the more poignant songs of Brian Wilson, and could become a monster hit with a little bit of luck.

In conclusion, Coil won't necessarily bring any more fans into the Toad camp, but it will make the group's afficionados happy. And from the attitude which the band's members have expressed in the past, that's just fine with them.