The Toadies dropped a new single called “Damage” on Friday, the first taste of a new album called The Charmer, due May 1 on Austin-based nonprofit label Spaceflight Records. The album was recorded by the late Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, making it one of the last projects he worked on before his death in May 2024 (Rolling Stone).
And if you’re wondering whether Albini’s famously raw, no-frills approach shows up on the record — it does. Frontman Vaden Lewis says the sessions were done entirely on tape with no computers involved in tracking or mixing. “Just old school tape and razor blade,” Lewis told reporters in a press statement.
The Fort Worth band has been at it for more than 30 years now. Their 1994 debut Rubberneck went platinum on the strength of “Possum Kingdom” and “Tyler,” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and spent 49 weeks on the Billboard 200 (Billboard). They split up for a stretch but reunited in 2006 and have been steadily active since, releasing seven studio albums total.
Lewis describes “Damage” as a lockdown-era song — trying to capture “that caged feeling” of wanting to go out and be around people, set against a deliberately upbeat melody. There’s a lyric video on YouTube featuring black-and-white stills from the Electrical Audio sessions, shot by Lewis’s daughter Ruby Faye Lewis.
Boston Date Set for May 20
For local fans, the important date is May 20 at the House of Blues. The Toadies are bringing Local H and Vandoliers along for that leg of the tour. The full run stretches from mid-April through mid-June, with festival appearances at Louder Than Life in Louisville (September 20) and Aftershock in Sacramento (October 4). Sparta, who also have a new record in the works, will handle support on the West Coast dates.
The album comes out through Spaceflight Records, a nonprofit label founded by front-of-house engineer Brett Orrison, filmmaker Sam Douglas, and drummer Eric Bice. The label’s advisory board includes Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers, Dave Schools of Widespread Panic, and Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas — a lineup that suggests the Toadies are in sympathetic company.
“Damage” is streaming now. The Charmer arrives May 1.