AMG Review of Pleather

Dean Carlson
All Music Guide

The Toadies spent a good deal of the early '90s trawling through Texas but finally put out an EP attempting to capture their gargled vocals and ad hoc ardor while leaving compact hooks for the other guys. Unfortunately, the band seems equally enamoured with rangy college rock faves Hüsker Dü and the more militant fire of the Meat Puppets, finding a spot in between that's not often successful. Their scattershot rhythm section is ordinary, their lyrics a bit wanting ("Love, love, love, love, love/Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha/yeeaaaaaaahhh!"), and in a crude version of their later hit "Possum Kingdom," showing off a riff reminiscent of both Matthew Sweet's "Does She Talk?" and Wire's "I Am the Fly." Still, the bassist once played an Ewok.