Information CD
Mute America, 1995

Patrick McGoohan, the writer, director, and star of one of the best television shows ever, The Prisoner, died earlier this week, so I felt the need to hear, and share with you, this amazing indie band from mid-1990s Atlanta. The Prisoner was a fantastic British cult TV series from 1960s that was part James Bond and part Twilight Zone, with the premise being a retired secret agent being imprisoned on a bucolic island with a bizarre social order and an oddly surreal, tightly controlled village. Toenut, who’s unfortunate name may have been party responsible for their ultimate obscurity, entitled their debut album Information in reference to a quote from The Prisoner, and even includes samples from the show. After years of loving this album, I saw The Prisoner for the first time and had an “a-ha!” moment realizing what all the weird Brit quotes were about. Musically, they take some Pixies-style indie rock and tweak it with some oddball Beefheartian twists and ethereal female vocals ala The Cocteau Twins that makes for a fun listen.

DOWNLOAD:

Toenut – “Seizure”
Toenut – “Information/32nd Theme Song”
Toenut – “3 Days Dirt”
Toenut – “Opus“