About This:

Rollingstone.com
ANDREW STRICKMAN
October 22, 2002

Squash

In the early Nineties, if you weren't grunge or hip-hop, you were pop. Uncle Tupelo and Lucinda Williams were in the midst of defining a new genre of country music, and the Courage Brothers were somewhere in the middle. Mining a vein of country-esque folk-rock, the Boston band and its lead singer Todd Thibaud found a seat not taken. But just as quietly as Thibaud and band mates arrived, "creative differences" imploded the band. Three albums into his solo career, with Squash, Thibaud has finally rediscovered that sweet spot where his electric twang of tunes like "By Degrees" and the album's arresting, sing-along lead track "Dragging Me Down" sit comfortably alongside quiet ballads like "Already Gone" and "No Surprise." Thibaud's voice, by far his best instrument, is a warm, familiar bass that marries his simple melodies to intensely personal lyrics of loss and redemption. Grunge is gone, pop is suffering, and the time may be right for Todd Thibaud.