by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
In Order of the Toad’s song “Lindow Woman,” the narrator inhabits the remains of a body that was found in a peat bog in 1983. Initially it was deemed to be the body of a recently murdered wife but further investigation discovered that it was actually dated to Roman times. So it is with Order of the Toad themselves: listening to them, one would imagine that they’ve been exhumed directly from the 1960s ‘Summer of Love,’ or perhaps even further back, to the time of Kings and Courts.
The trio - Gemma Fleet (The Wharves), Robert Sotelo (solo artist on Upset The Rhythm’s roster), and Chris Taylor began making music in the unexpected landscape of a Glasgow flat and they have a combined sound entirely of their own concoction. A hazy mixture of medieval folk, baroque pop, and 60s psychedelia, it’s an utterly bamboozling palette but it works.
A re-order of their music was necessary after the strong debut By Order of the Toad (even that title possesses a whimsical regalness) that was released in 2018. This follow-up is a co-release from Gringo (Sauna Youth, Jutland Songs) and Reckless Yes, which will surely bring their ubiquitous sound to a larger and unsuspecting audience.
Given their fondness for the glory days of psych-pop, Fleet often recalls Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick: she wields the same unnerving mysterious menace on “Lady’s Mantle”; her lung-bursting shrieks power the storytelling of “Just Because” and “A Pittance”. When the men take over singing duties, the delivery is smaller and sillier. For instance, depending on one’s predilection for twee, “Rabbets” will either be the supreme highlight of the record or one to be skimmed over. Sotelo’s baritone vocal weaves wonderfully with the bouncing keys. It should be noted that any too-sickly tweeness is avoided by the band’s depth of feeling: their historicism and influences feel lived in and true.
“Rabbets”’ narrative tells the tale of Mary Toft, who bizarrely claimed to have given birth to rabbits in 1726 (“Oh Mary Toft / you ripped all the doctors off / the question I have to ask / is how did you get that stuff / so far up”). “Lindow Woman” operates in a similar way, the grooviness underpinning the wry delivery of lines like “Here they come with their questions / well, bring it on / they’ll never get anything on me,” and “I can’t take these goings on / I can confess that I was wrong.”
Sotelo and Fleet share vocals on “Toads Theme” over momentous instrumentation, a strange track that feels like it could have come from Syd Barrett or Mature Themes-era Ariel Pink. Both voice and instrumentation are subdued on the aptly-titled “Slow Ballad 44,” the atmosphere sombre, the rhythm languorous. “Mend It” revels in its laidback psychedelia, the shaking percussion and placid guitars allowing a lovely melody to flow. “Do It With Feeling” is another standout from the record, first running with a deep bassline and loose guitar before giving way to Taylor’s hammering drums. It’s purely-distilled 60s pop, overflowing with a wonderful retro vibe.
There will be fewer charming releases in music this year than Re-Order of the Toad. Its creators so clearly understand the mechanics of quality off-kilter pop, both of yesteryear and today: earworm hooks abound and the surreal lyricism keeps one’s attention. Allow their medieval musical reverie to be a source of escapism from the messiness of 2020.