Musicians Doni Blair, Vaden Todd Lewis, and Mark Reznicek of the Toadies perform in concert at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q on Nov. 10, 2017, in Austin, Texas. The band plays Empire Live in Albany on Thursday in support of its new album, “The Charmer.”
Rick Kern/WireImage
Musician Mark Reznicek of Toadies performs at Providence Medical Center Amphitheater on Sept. 8, 2017, in Kansas City, Missouri. The band plays Empire Live in Albany on Thursday in support of its new album, “The Charmer.”
Jason Squires/Getty Images
Musician/vocalist Vaden Todd Lewis and drummer Mark Reznicek of the Toadies perform in concert at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q on Nov. 10, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The band plays Empire Live in Albany on Thursday in support of its new album, “The Charmer.”
Rick Kern/WireImage
ALBANY — It’s been 32 years since garage/alternative rockers Toadies released “Possum Kingdom,” a song that has since become a rock radio staple. The song’s success ensured Toadies’ major-label debut LP “Rubberneck” went platinum.
In the time since that achievement, Toadies have had record label disputes, broke up for five years and reformed again. On Thursday, the band will be performing at Empire Live in support of its new album, “The Charmer.” Released on a local imprint from the band’s native state of Texas, the act’s longtime drummer Mark Reznicek explains that “The Charmer” and its current tour find Toadies in the best creative and financial situation of the group’s nearly 40-year career.
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Toadies
with Local H and Olive Vox
When: 8 p.m., Thursday, August 13
Where: Empire Live, 93 N. Pearl St., Albany
Tickets: $35 in advance, $39 day-of
More info: empirelivealbany.com
“We’ve done this long enough that we can put out the music we feel like putting out,” he said. “Actually, it’s worked out better financially, too, than it ever did when we were on Interscope (Records, the company that released the band’s music until 2001), with the label looking to recoup every nickel and dime.”
“The Charmer” is an album that’s nearly a decade in the making. After dropping “The Lower Side of Uptown” in 2017, Toadies found themselves without a record label. Instead of seeking out another one for support, Reznicek said he and the bandmates “decided to save up a certain percentage of our income from touring and record an album ourselves.” Their goal was to work with engineering legend Steve Albini, whose list of credits includes alt-rock legends Nirvana, Pixies, Breeders, Jesus Lizard and Fugazi, to name a handful. A Toadies/Albini collaboration was something Reznicek noted had been a goal for 30 years.
In 2024, Toadies got to work with Albini on what turned out to be one of his final projects before he passed away later that year, with the plan to record the album “then worry about a label or just self-release.” For Reznicek, the sessions harkened back to the group’s early days. “The Charmer” was recorded analog to tape and live in-studio, “no Pro Tools or digital anything, just a razor blade and scotch tape.”
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“It was something we’d gotten away from in the intervening 30 years,” Reznicek said. “Recording onto tape was kind of the most efficient method; we’d play at the same time and keep the best takes of us gelling together.”
In addition to being a batch of performances Reznicek and the band could be proud of, there’s another aspect of “The Charmer” that makes it particularly meaningful. In 1997, Toadies worked on a follow-up to “Rubberneck” entitled “Feeler.” Interscope Records — hoping for another “Possum Kingdom” — rejected the album. This set them back years, and by the time the album “Hell Below/Stars Above” came out in 2000, Interscope abandoned promoting Toadies and prompted a five-year hiatus for the band from 2001 to 2006.
By betting on themselves with “The Charmer” and funding their own recording sessions, Toadies were able to gain a newfound level of autonomy.
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“It’s the first time, of all the albums we’ve recorded, that we own our own masters,” he said. “Of our nine albums, it’s the first one we own completely. We were lucky to be in a position where we could record and when it came time to working out a distribution deal, say, ‘We paid for this, so we’re going to retain control.’”
“The Charmer” came out in May on Dallas-based Spaceflight Records, with the label stating, “it’s your record, we’ll put it out.” Since issuing it, the Toadies have been working the hell out of it on the road, performing 8 to 10 of its 13 songs live.
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This record pairs with tracks from “Rubberneck” to comprise the bulk of the setlist. Reznicek has noticed that “The Charmer” material has resonated particularly strongly with the younger demographic that comes to see the group.
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The strong response to the new tunes and the longevity of “Possum Kingdom” — which Reznicek says has allowed Toadies to “all be able to make a living as musicians and would never take for granted” — has made playing together an enjoyable experience for the band.
“When we play the new stuff, the crowd seems enthusiastic, especially the younger people. It’s cool in and of itself that young people want to see us,” Reznicek said. “It’s fun and cool playing songs from throughout our whole catalog that we’re excited about, and it feels like we’re playing to our biggest crowds ever.”