If you had ‘new Toadliquor record’ on your card for Unlikely Bingo, congratulations. The probably-Californian anonymous sludge rockers’ 2003 compact disc, The Hortator’s Lament, which was released through Southern Lord, was my apparently-way-late-to-the-party introduction to the band, whose Back in the Hole will be out in a couple weeks and whose penchant for things lurching-of-groove and caustic apparently remains intact if the album opener “First Crush” is anything to go by. Do you think they named it after the riff? I think maybe they did. I also think maybe they’re howling into the void there a little bit. I dig that.

Expect oldschool disillusion and the kind of sludge that makes you miserable because it is in fact itself miserable. Not about being cool, trendy weed-worship, blah blah check out my Orange stacks. This is raw aughts-era fuckery, when no one had any money, no one cared and all was intoxicants. It was hell on earth and the war went on forever. We’re still there. “First Crush” sounds pretty right for this moment in this wreck of a world.

To the PR wire, then:

Southern Lord to Release Toadliquor’s First New Music in 25 Years

Back in the Hole is out February 23, 2024. // Stream the album opener “First Crush” now.

Eternally shrouded in complete mystery and anonymity, the entity calling themselves Toadliquor has returned with its first recorded offerings in over 25 years. Back In The Hole will be released by Southern Lord on February 23, 2024.

Violently bleeding out into the early-90s with their lone LP Feel My Hate – The Power Is The Weight – R.I.P. Cain, Toadliquor followed that with a few comp tracks and a single before completely disappearing into the ether.

Southern Lord compiled most known recordings in 2003 on the Hortators Lament compact disc. Then, on the occasion of the label’s 20th anniversary in 2018, Southern Lord released these recordings plus one newly-received cryptic distress signal from deep space on the limited edition 2xLP set Cease & Decease.

Now, in 2024, Toadliquor return to continue their decades-long onslaught of desolation, despair and damaged vocal cords with Back in the Hole. Seven prize picks for the communal trough. Strap in and feed.

Look for Back in the Hole to be available on LP and digital formats only on February 23, 2024 (pre-order on Bandcamp here or from Southern Lord here). For fans with a penchant for pain, misery, and destruction!

Back in the Hole, track listing:

First Crush
Recained
Entry Level Position
In Gold
Basement
Open Through Funeral
Back in the Hole

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Toadliquor, Back in the Hole (2024)

It was one of those records I’d downloaded in my college days of downloading more albums than I could ever possibly listen to, and though the name was always memorable, I didn’t know squat about what it sounded like when I picked it up. Toadliquor‘s 2003 compilation of unreleased material, The Hortator’s Lament, on Southern Lord, was $4.99 in the Vintage Vinyl used bin. Even if it sucked, I wouldn’t really lose out in that situation.

That didn’t turn out to be a problem anyway, since The Hortator’s Lament (and a hortator is the Roman military officer responsible for crew morale and coordinating rowing) is full of mid-’90s sludge and blown out doom. I suspect this isn’t so much “Buried Treasure” as it is “An Album a Bunch of People Already Have that I Didn’t Until Now,” but on a trip that also yielded Serpent Throne‘s The Battle of Old Crow, Kaptain Sun‘s Rainbowride and the super-fancypants edition of Master of Reality, among others, I thought somehow this was the most fitting. Maybe that’s because I haven’t listened yet to the Kaptain Sun record.

But hey, even if I am late to the party, maybe you haven’t broken out Toadliquor in a while and this can be a reminder that it’s over on the shelf, just waiting for you to blow the dust off and give it another go. Let that be the worst thing that ever happens.

If we look at the discography of Southern Lord, it’s arguable that the period beginning in 2001 (say, with Warhorse‘s As Heaven Turns to Ash…) and ending in 2004 (say, with The Hidden Hand‘s Mother Teacher Destroyer) could be considered a “Golden Age.” Certainly they released some great stuff before — The Obsessed, Burning Witch, etc. — and some of their best work has come after — Earth, Wolves in the Throne Room, SunnO)))/Boris, etc. — but in terms of what the label originally stood for, the three year period 2001-2004 really captured the essence of its (perceived) doomed mission.

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