Toiling Midgets

The Profile

San Francisco band formed in the late 1970s, emerging from hardcore roots (members came from Sleepers and Negative Trend) and evolving into a darker, more sophisticated post-hardcore/post-rock voice; noted for the 1982 album Sea Of Unrest.

Members have included Tim Mooney, Ricky Williams and Craig Gray (origins connected to the Sleepers and Negative Trend). They released Sea Of Unrest (1982) and later produced instrumental works such as Dead Beats. They collaborated with Mark Eitzel on the album Son (SON').

Reviews present Toiling Midgets as influential San Francisco musicians who moved beyond hardcore into darker, more sophisticated post-hardcore/post-rock. Sea Of Unrest (1982) is widely praised as a formative record. Later work such as Dead Beats emphasizes instrumental, cinematic textures.