When we last checked in with Toadskin, the Milwaukee-based garage rock trio was treating WMSE listeners to a Local/Live set that included its then-new single, “Lemons.” Since that on-air experience back in mid-February, the band has released another single (“Dirt”), played out sporadically, and quietly put the finishing touches on a new album that features those two aforementioned songs in its ranks.

Today, Toadskin formally announced that new album to the public and is offering a pre-order for the record that’s due out in August. That album, entitled Weird Growth, features seven songs. Guitarist/vocalist Jeff VanDreel tells Milwaukee Record the four songs on the LP’s Side A represent “the four elements” (earth, water, air, and fire) and Side B’s three tracks relate to matters of the heart and soul.

In addition to announcing the album—which the band recorded with Joseph Lambert at LuckyLamb Studios in Green Bay last year—and putting it up for presale, Toadskin also debuted a new song from the forthcoming release today. “Hollow Bones” is a grungy entrant to the album, complete with marching percussion, crunchy guitar, and coarse vocals that all perfectly suit the gloriously grimy track. VanDreel says “Hollow Bones,” the album’s third song, relates to the “air” component of the record’s concept, saying, “It’s about the desire to shed our skin and fly away into the sky, leaving all our worries behind.”

Weird Growth is limited to just 100 physical copies, half of which will be available on Toadskin’s Bandcamp page. The rest will be sold at the band’s concerts and via Rival Mist Records. Toadskin plans to send the albums out on or around Friday, August 9. Check out “Hollow Bones” below and, if you want a little Weird Growth in your life after that, pre-order one of the 100 copies on planet earth while you can.

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Co-Founder and Editor

Before co-founding Milwaukee Record, Tyler Maas wrote for virtually every Milwaukee publication (except Wassup! Magazine). He lives in Bay View and enjoys both stuff and things.