Toad the Wet Sprocket took three years to release the follow-up to their excellent fourth album Dulcinea, but the music world had started to change in the late ’90s and the band’s melodic, moody pop-rock was no longer drawing a major audience. And while a great album could have overcome this, Coil is mostly a retread of the sounds and moods that made the previous albums so good.
For fans of those albums, this is good news. The opening triptych of “Whatever I Fear,” “Come Down” and “Rings” is nine minutes of borderline-melancholy power pop that is nearly as good as any other Toad songs you care to name, though maybe lacking the killer hooks of the band’s best work. “Desire” is pretty good too, a little bit harder-edged for this band, perhaps pointing to a future that could have been.
The best track is in the middle of the album: “Don’t Fade” glides in a blue haze of jangly guitars and regret, leading to an emotional climax under the mystifying lyrics (did someone actually drown?). Nearly as good is “Amnesia,” which brings to mind Live’s 1997 album Secret Samadhi in its layers of serious guitars, midtempo alt-rock tone and impassioned vocals. And yes, it closes with a very good guitar solo.
But a chunk of the album never rises above “pleasant” and “reliable,” which implies a comfort level that is a dangerous area for a band past their prime. “Dam Would Break,” “Little Man Big Man,” “Crazy Life,” the closing “All Things In Time” and “Throw It All Away” fade from memory almost immediately. The only true misfire on the album is the dreadful, string-laden and off-kilter “Little Buddha,” which was so bad I couldn’t even finish it. Points for trying to experiment at this late stage, I guess, but damn.
The band would break up the year after this album came out, effectively ending the commercial phase of their career, with only two albums released since 1997 and the obligatory reunion shows. Going out on a solid album is hardly the worst thing, but Coil ends up falling just short of the status established by previous releases. Still, the best songs on it are worth hearing for fans of the band or the era.
