Easily one of the strangest things to come across our desk, Toadlicker’s debut album Hangover songs is now available for preorder on limited edition 12” vinyl from Jems. Released earlier this year on cassette by Dutch tape label, Knekelput, daring fans of dungeon synth and outsider music will not want to miss the chance to own this singular slab of so-called goblin synth ‘n’ roll on vinyl, as cassette copies are long gone.
According to the project’s Bandcamp page, Toadlickers hail from “in the slums of Goblin City,” where “every day, from dusk to dawn, sinister thugs gather” at a “ crumbling old inn” with “a small stage, where an extravagant musical band performs every night.”
“The Toadlickers project was essentially born from my fervent imagination and inspiration derived from the 1986 cult movie Labyrinth,” writes the artist behind the project. “I tried to imagine how a band of goblins would play, crippling and out-of-tune, to the rhythm of rock ‘n’ roll. Hangover songs was born like this, imagining the filthy taverns of Goblin City full of filthy and drunk, harassing goblins enjoying themselves to the music. If everything may seem superficial and playful, you will find that in reality the album contains references to different musical genres: punk, rock ‘n’ roll, swing, waltzer, rockabilly … For example, the title track ‘Now I wanna lick some toads’ is a clear reference/homage to the Ramones of ‘Now I wanna sniff some glue’. Toadlickers is a serious (but not too much) project, to be listened to carefully (but not too much)! Buuuurp!!!”