Toadies fans have reason to rejoice as the band has announced release the first of two new EPs and a North American tour with Social Distortion starting in April. The EP, entitled Play.Rock.Music. to be released May 8th was recorded at The Bubble in Austin and produced by Chris "Frenchie" Smith.
The writing of the EP was hot off the heels of last year's Dia De Los Toadies (The 4th annual!) The festival last year was the most successful yet - two days and the strongest Texas line up they've ever had including The Sword, Black Angels and Ume. The 5th Dia De Los Toadies is slated for Labor Day Weekend later this year.
Front man Vaden Todd Lewis on the new songs ""It was fun experimenting with some new sounds and variations for this EP. This is some of the strangest and catchiest stuff I've ever written."
Guitarist Clark Vogeler elaborates on the EP "I'm anxious for people to hear the new tunes. The new EP definitely still sounds like Toadies, but the way Todd writes and the way we play has continued to evolve. The lyrics that Todd wrote for this record are some of his best while the overall delivery vocally and musically show more teeth than usual. This is also the first time that we've had Doni Blair play bass on a record and he's just a machine, so I think this record sounds more like a band than the previous couple.
He goes on to talk about a collaboration with The Honeybear Horns brass section on the EP"
"I love the horns that The Honeybear Horns brought to Rattler's Revival. I was worried that it might sound out-of-step with what we do, but we were all pleased to hear that horns sound right at home in the mix. I can't wait for those guys to join us live at some point."
Drummer Mark Reznicek adds "The new stuff might be the most rockin' set since Rubberneck."
Upon the EPs release the Toadies will take their show out on the road, hand picked to open for Social Distortion.
"The Toadies haven't toured as opener in over 15 years. I couldn't think of a better better band to tour with (short of ZZ Top or AC/DC). I'm looking forward to playing some of these bigger venues we haven't played before and hitting a few cities in Canada that I've never been to. it will be interesting to play 45 minute sets compared to the 90 minutes we usually do. It will be like get in, rock them hard, then get out, all by 10:00!" - Guitarist Clark Vogeler
The track listing is as follows:
Rattler's Revival
Laments of a Good Man
Summer of the Strange
We Burned the City Down
*Unnamed Track
*Unnamed track
Headlining Dates
3/23 Tyler, TX - Clicks
3/24 San Antonio, TX - Josabi's
4/4 Beaumont, TX - The Gig
4/5 Denton, TX - Rockin' Rodeo
4/6 Abilene, TX - Lucky Mule
4/7 Austin, TX - Stubbs
With Social Distortion (except where noted as headline): (More TBA)
4/10 Portland, OR - Roseland
4/12 Portland, OR - Roseland
4/13 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater
4/14 Kennewick, WA - Paramount Theater
4/16 Vancouver - Commodore
4/17 Vancouver - Commodore
4/19 Calgary - MacEwan Hall
4/20 Edmonton - Events Centre
4/23 Winnipeg- Burton Cummings
4/26 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
4/27 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
4/28 St. Louis, MO - Pop's
5/1 Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
5/2 Little Rock, AR - Juanita's (Headline Date)
5/5 Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street
5/8 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
5/10 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater
5/11 Salt Lake City - The Depot
5/14 Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
5/15 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
5/16 Bend, OR - Midtown
5/18 Reno - Knitting Factory
5/20 Pozo, CA - Pozo Saloon