POP MUSIC REVIEW : Toad Grows but Needs Laughs

Was taking its name from a Monty Python sketch the last humorous thing the band Toad the Wet Sprocket ever did?

You might well think so from the young Santa Barbara quartet’s show Thursday at the Whisky--at least until drummer Randy Guss came forward for a lugubrious a cappella stab at “Hello, Dolly!” to kick off the encores. Otherwise, as with the group’s three albums, it was a somber affair in which the potentially hypnotic swirl of guitars and impressionistic lyrics that are the Toad trademark (early R.E.M. is the standard reference point) were smothered by the chill of over-reaching earnestness.

Not that Toad was particularly dour or sullen. Singer Glen Phillips seemed pleasant enough and pleased to be there in front of a packed club of similarly earnest and youthful Toadies. But the closest thing to a light or revealing moment he offered was in introducing the airy “Nightingale Song” by saying, “We’re now going to play something excruciatingly happy.” Neither it, nor any of the other songs in the 75-minute set, was either excruciating or happy.

Musically the band has grown, adding a gentle sense of melody often reminiscent of England’s Prefab Sprout to the expected R.E.M.nants. But only the unreleased “When Will We Fall Down?”--a neat little rocker with attractive harmonies and an effectively anthemic chorus--brought it all together. But even with that, Toad needs the warm kiss of humanity before it can turn into a pop prince charming. A sense of humor might just do the trick.