by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The Toadies' debut album is a streamlined version of the Pixies' warped guitar rock and Nirvana's throttling grunge. However, the Toadies leave out those bands' quirks; what's left is nothing more than modern hard rock -- you can hear their influences, but the Toadies don't incorporate them, they simply regurgitate them. It can result in some good moments, particularly the single &Possum Kingdom,& but the album simply doesn't have enough of them.