Pop Music Review : Edgy Energy Fuels Toadies’ Angst-Tinged Mystique

In the Toadies’ hit single, “Possum Kingdom,” Todd Lewis spins a pathological love story that bristles with as much spite as melody. “Behind the boat house,” he sings in a voice full of nasty intimation, “I’ll show you my dark secret.” Whatever the dark secret is that fuels the Toadies, they sustained the intrigue under the bright lights at the Whisky on Thursday night. In fact, urged on by a rowdily receptive capacity crowd, their angst-tinged mystique was heightened.

After a year of relentless touring, the Fort Worth, Texas, quartet has become edgier and even more focused, driving home 90 minutes of music, old and new, with unflagging energy. In addition to material from the group’s current album, “Rubberneck,” the set included songs from its previous independent-label release, “Goolie Get-Together” (the track it contributed to “Saturday Morning: Cartoons’ Greatest Hits”), plus Pylon’s “Stop It” and the Rev. Horton Heat’s “400 Bucks.”

Guitarist Darrel Herbert maintained his stoic demeanor whether whipping up buzzing drones or jagged riffs while bassist Lisa Umbarger grimaced with gusto as she unleashed the taut bass lines that combined with Mark Reznicek’s drumming to form the hefty rhythmic foundation of the music.

Lewis was an intense focal point, delivering each song with carefully controlled vehemence. But as twisted and thorny as things were, the Toadies never lost track of the tunefulness that makes the bitter tang of their music so easy to swallow.