by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
The same fire that was a detriment to Anti Fade Records also led to the origins of The Toads. As Billy Gardner (Smarts, Ausmuteants, The Living Eyes) was forced to relocate after his home was destroyed, he moved in with Stella Rennex (Parsnip, Thibault, Smarts) and the pair quickly used their time to form The Toads, soon bringing along Miles Jansen (The Shifters) and close friend Elsie Retter. Wasting no time, the band gave life to their unique brand of jangly post-punk, matching politicized lyrics and social commentary with songs that scrape and groove, twisting themselves in knots with fiery leads and breezy structures. In The Wilderness, the band’s debut album is due out June 9th via Anti Fade and Upset The Rhythm Records, a collection of thought provoking and intellectually driven punk, with a skeletal make-up that gives focus to each member.
After sharing the instantly catchy “Nationalsville” and the pointed “Tale Of A Town Split In Two,” the band present “Ex-KGB,” a song that both dredges up the past and feels awfully (and unfortunately) reminiscent to these current times. Led by Gardner’s bouncy guitar strum and a closely sparse rhythm, Jansen weaves a tale of a former spy, his life dedicated to a useless cause and now run by persistent paranoia. The Toads don’t play the tale out with tension though, this is a loose account of his demise, swaying and sputtering through bright chord progressions and sneaky harmonies. The verses offer a bouncing-ball vocal delivery followed by a few different swarming hooks, each one outdoing the former.
Speaking about the song, Miles Jansen (vocals) shared:
"Ex-KGB. “What did you put in my tea?!" The final words of a paranoid, self appointed leader for life, poisoned by those meant to protect him. Ex-KGB is about a special operation against an old friend, AKA Lenin’s little gift, highlighting the waves of citizens sent only to fall in some muddy little forest on the outskirts of Bakhmut. A story of geopolitical madness fuelled by historical grievance.”