Looking for some '90s nostalgia? Toad the Wet Sprocket coming to Plymouth's Memorial Hall

Toad the Wet Sprocket was one of the hottest rock bands of the 1990s, before it broke up in 1998. But the band reunited in 2006 and have been doing limited tours ever since, producing new music with just as much urgency and unique lyrical content as ever.

Toad the Wet Sprocket – the band name comes from a Monty Python skit – is coming to Memorial Hall in Plymouth on Sunday, Sept. 24. The band’s tour makes a few New England stops, including Sept. 22 at Jane Pickens Theater in Newport, Rhode Island; Sept. 23 at The Flying Monkey in Plymouth, New Hampshire; and Sept. 27 at Infinity Hall in Hartford, Connecticut.

(Memorial Hall is located at 83 Court St. in downtown Plymouth, and the show begins at 7 p.m., with fellow 90's indie rockers the Verve Pipe opening. Tickets are scaled from $39-$79, available through Etix, or by checking spectaclelive.com).

Established in 1986

The four original members of Toad the Wet Sprocket were all students at San Marcos High School when they started the band in 1986. Singer/guitarist Glen Phillips, who would become the main songwriter, was only 15 when they began. They funded their own debut album in 1989, but their next effort began garnering airplay on college radio. The quartet’s third album, 1991’s “Fear,” yielded a pair of Top 20 singles in “All I Want” and “Walk On the Ocean,” pushing the record to platinum status and vaulting them into the top rank of indie-rockers.

More: ZZ Ward is getting back in the musical swing of things. Catch her Boston show this Sunday

“Dulcinea,” released in 1994, also went platinum, but by the time ‘97’s “Coil” album sold poorly, the band was on the path to a breakup. Phillips launched a successful solo career, and to date has five studio albums and two live CDs to his credit. But since that 2006 reunion, Toad has continued to turn out new music. Their most recent release is 2021’s “Starting Now,” whose title cut is delightfully jangly paean to trying to be a better person, delivered in a style that evokes The Byrds or Tom Petty for its guitar textures. Earlier this year they released “All You Want,” a 19-cut collection of their best work.

A 37-year run

Toad the Wet Sprocket includes Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Josh Daubin. Original drummer Randy Buss left amicably in 2020, but the other three have been making music together – except for that eight-year hiatus – for 37 years now. We caught up with Phillips from his California home, just before the current tour started. We mentioned that the new music is just as infectious and compelling as anything they did in the ‘90s.

“I hope so,” said Phillips. “I know I don’t feel done as a writer, and we don’t feel done as a band. We’re still here because we have more songs to perform. It is a different era, and we’re no longer on a major label. But we don’t try to compete with the past. We had our moment, back when we were young and dumb, but we’re still here and we still love making music.”

Among some of the more remarkable new songs, “Hold On” is a wonderfully vibrant rocker, with lyrics that are a brilliant distillation of all the upheaval and conflict of the past few years, yet is also hopeful and urges coming together. “The Best of Me” is an irresistible love song, set over shimmering guitars, with lines like “Well, she lives like she preaches, She is kind to the core, She remembers every word I’ve said, But she don’t keep score.”

Another newer song, “Transient Whales,” seems to depict the contrast between someone’s public life, and the private world it takes them away from, with its killer line “all we have is each other.”

More: Massachusetts concert dates offer 'pinch me' moment for this New Hampshire reggae band

“'Transient Whales’ is a bit of that perspective,” said Phillips. “But mainly that was a post-divorce thing for me. I realized that part of my life, a house full of kids and guests, that I had loved was gone. COVID cut down everyone’s social calendar, but I had already had to let part of my life go and go back to just being kind of a wandering troubadour. Since then, I have fallen in love again, remarried and am involved in home-building again. That’s where something like ‘Best of Me’ comes from.”

A lot to consider

With his successful solo career, is it obvious to Phillips which songs he writes are destined for the band and which are better suited for his solo work?

“I don’t know right off the bat where the songs fit best,” he said. “A lot of things we started to do on our new record had their beginnings as my solo work. Right now, I am consciously writing for Toad, because I want to play with a band, use more tempos and rhythms with my songs. Before we broke up, they all went to Toad. But I have definite ideas how I want my solo songs to feel, and they’re very different, vibe-wise, than Toad’s. But if you have a good song, it kind of doesn’t matter where it ends up or who does it.”

It is notable how much “Hold On” resonates with topical affairs, without being specific or judgmental.

“Hold On’ was a tricky song, which went through a lot of changes,” Phillips admitted. “An earlier version was more about immigration and our brutalist attitude towards that policy. Then the lockdowns and more things happened. When each side de-humanizes the other, there’s no possibility of conversation, no common ground anymore. I tried to zoom out, and take a look at it that was not partisan, find a place that was neither left nor right. It is just a plea for us to start a conversation with each other.”

Advice for the songwriter

“Starting Now” has a message of "Carpe diem," seize the moment with joy and energy, and Phillips feels like that is advice he often needs himself.

“I do suffer from anxiety and despair, and most songs I write giving advice is advice I desperately need myself,” said Phillips. “Hope is an active word, and optimism is an approach. Hope is about doing the right thing, not having blinders on, but knuckling down and doing it. It feels like it’s hard to get up sometimes, and we get damaged. But as much proof as we can find that people are terrible, we can always find more proof that people are amazing. Negative people are sometimes louder, but good people outnumber them.”

It is of course a rarity that band strays together, with three-quarters of the origjnal members, 37 years after their beginning. Toad the Wet Sprocket’s musicians realize how lucky they are.

“We are really fortunate,” said Phillips. “And I firmly believe that in these last few years we’ve found a new groove, a new energy. When we get back together now, it is really cool. It’s thrilling to think of what our next record, or next show will be. Everybody’s excited about this tour, and especially the fact that we get to see New England in the fall.”

Folk music legend coming to Plymouth

Take special note of Judy Collins in concert at Memorial Hall in Plymouth on Saturday night, as she is one of folk music’s most acclaimed legends. Collins has 49 albums to her credit, not counting compilations, and indelible hits from “Both Sides Now” to her Stephen Sondheim interpretations like “Send In the Clowns.” And Collins has not lost her fastball, as last year’s “Spellbound” album earned a Grammy nomination as Best Folk Album.

Scullers reopens

Scullers Jazz Club re-opened last week after its usual summer hiatus, and the venue is jumping this weekend with the Trevor Watkis Quintet on Friday, and Troy Roberts’ Nu-Jive on Saturday. And now the venerable RegattaBar in Harvard Square is back, after a three-year gap dating back to the pandemic. The plush venue in the Charles Hotel will once again be hosting jazz on weekends, with the quintet of saxophonist Walter Smith III kicking it off this Friday.

Lemonheads marking 30th anniversary

THURSDAY: Taunton roots singer Kerri Powers is not just an evocative singer, but a monster on slide guitar too, at The Spire Center. Canadian rockers The Glorious Sons hit The Paradise Rock Club. Ultimate Doors – a tribute to you-know-who – at Soundcheck Studios. Saxman Dave McMurray has played with all manner of rock and soul acts, and his own band makes it Narrows Center debut. Rocker Joe Sumner at City Winery. 1000 Mods – a metal band from Greece – at The Middle East. The folk-pop stylings of Allison de Groot and Tatiana Huygens at Club Passim. Songsmith John Craigie at The Sinclair. Latin pop singer Becky G at Roadrunner. Babymetal and Dethklock bring the thunder to MGM Music Hall.

FRIDAY: The Lemonheads celebrate their 30th anniversary at the House of Blues. Aussie rocker Tash Sultana lights up Roadrunner. Jazz with Natalie Cressman at City Winery. Superb roots music with lady Anemoia at The Fallout Shelter. The Soul Rebels groove at The Sinclair. Boston Harbor Distillery has Joe Muella and Chris Cote performing the ‘Who’s Next’ album. The Quins rock Soundcheck Studios. Folksinger Amy Speace at Club Passim. Electronic duo Kruder & Dorfmeister at Royale. Boston’s own Q Tip Bandits shake up The Paradise. Hip hop with Chase Stebbins at The C-Note. Nasty habits – a Rolling Stones tribute – shakes up District Center for the Arts in Taunton. The Breakout Fest offers electronic and DJ sets at Suffolk Downs for two nights, with Lane 8, and Tchami among tonight’s acts.

SATURDAY: Draw the Line’s nonpareil Aerosmith tribute at The C-Note. Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Fest hits Xfinity center, with Bob Weir and Los Lobos on board. The Blind Boys of Alabama and timeless harmonies at City Winery. Bad Omens heavy metal at Roadrunner. L7 the indie rock female quartet at Brighton Music Hall. Canadian popster Tate McRae at The House of Blues. The 21-year-old pop singer known as Boywithuke at Royale. Completely Unchained – a Van Halen tribute – at Soundcheck Studios. Hurricane rocks The Next Page. Senses Fail hard-rock the Paradise. The Band Camino rocks MGM Music Hall. Jen Kearney and her band heat up Boston Harbor Distillery. Songwriter Alaska Reid at Café 939. The Wolff Sisters harmonize at The Burren. South Shore folk star Ari Hest at Club Passim. The Breakout Fest features Griz and Elderbrook. Double duty for Suzanne McNeil: at 2 p.m. she plays at the free River Rock fest in Norwell, and at night she performs at The Red Rose (Weymouth).

SUNDAY AND BEYOND: Get an early start Sunday for the 1 p.m. Rhythm Room Afternoons at The John Alden Sportsmans Club in Plymouth, where the double bill offers two of New England’s best female songwriters, in Danielle Miraglia and Jennifer Tefft. Sunday night, Scituate’s Ward Hayden & the Outliers celebrate Hank Williams Sr.’s 100th birthday with a set of old Hank’s best. Janelle Monae headlines MGM Music Hall, while Bishop Briggs and Misterwives warm up Roadrunner; pop singer Patrick Droney takes on Royale; and Everclear and The Ataris raise heck at Big Night Live. On Monday, ska-rocking Rancid opens a two-night stand at The House of Blues. On Wednesday, Roadrunner is hosting a 400th anniversary for cymbal makers Zildjian, with many guests; Flogging Molly also rocks The House of Blues. Sept. 21 is busy for country-pop-rock, with Sammy Rae and Friends at Roadrunner; while Old Dominion headlines TD Garden. On Sept. 23, folkie Cheryl Wheeler’s at Circle of Friends Coffeehouse; while Jamie Walker and Friends host at benefit concert at The Regent Theater in Arlington.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Toad the Wet Sprocket bringing 37 years of music to Memorial Hall