A Glorious Lethal Euphoria

Last updated
A Glorious Lethal Euphoria
A Glorious Lethal Euphoria.jpg
Studio album by
the Mermen
Released1995
StudioMr. Toad's
Genre Surf rock
Label Toadophile [1]
Mesa/Bluemoon
Producer Jim Thomas, Mermen
The Mermen chronology
Live at the Haunted House
(1994)		A Glorious Lethal Euphoria
(1995)		Songs of the Cows EP
(1996)

A Glorious Lethal Euphoria is an album by the American band the Mermen, released in 1995. [2] [3] The album was bought by Atlantic Records, which distributed it via their Mesa label. [4] It won a Bay Area Music Award, in the "Outstanding Independent Album or EP" category. [5] The band supported the album with a North American tour. [6]

Contents

Production

Produced by Jim Thomas and the Mermen, the album was recorded at Mr. Toad's Recording Studio, in San Francisco, California. [7] [8] It ends with Thomas's version of "Brahms 3rd Movement 3rd Symphony". [9] The other songs were written and titled by Thomas, who took "With No Definite Future and No Purpose Other Than to Prevail Somehow..." from a line in Lauren Bacall's autobiography. [10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [11]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
The Province Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
The Tampa Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [12]

Rolling Stone opined that "hints of Dick Dale filter through the cracked-sidewalk wave forms of Sonic Youth." [13] Trouser Press wrote: "Equally capable of settling down to precise figures of reverbed/tremoloed modesty, [Thomas] whips the luridly titled originals ('Scalp Salad', 'Pulpin’ Line', 'The Drowning Man Knows His God') into stormy seas of aggressive rock virulence and sends soft breezes to caress placid lily pads, never settling for generic methodology." [14] Miami New Times thought that the Mermen "combine Dale's hard-picking percussive attack with the feedback grandeur of Neil Young's late-baroque work with Crazy Horse and end up with something else entirely, at once menacing and eerily pretty." [15]

Guitar Player determined that "Thomas' ambient, whammy-articulated Fender tones are luscious, and his melodic lines can be snaky and sinister or as open-spirited as a desert skyline." [16] The Chicago Tribune concluded that "the trio explores hovering, ambient textures that evoke British pioneers such as My Bloody Valentine and See Feel; rambles into the dissonant terrain of New York's post-No Wave guitar bands; and brings dark-tinged introspection to its long-form pieces that suggests more than passing familiarity with jazz giant John Coltrane." [17]

AllMusic wrote that "the Mermen are worshippers at the feet of the mighty Dick Dale, surf-guitar god, and they aren't afraid to demonstrate that with all the passion at their command." [11]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Pulpin' Line"3:58
2."With No Definite Future and No Purpose Other Than to Prevail Somehow..."4:27
3."The Drowning Man Knows His God"3:33
4."Scalp Salad"3:53
5."Obsession for Men"9:23
6."Blue Xoam"4:10
7."Under the Kou Tree"5:42
8."Lizards"3:57
9."Quo Me Cunque Rapit Tempestas, Deforor Hospes"5:15
10."The Drub"3:22
11."The Intractable Boy"4:28
12."Between I and Thou"9:17
13."And the Flowers They'll Bloom"9:49
14."Brahms 3rd Movement 3rd Symphony"2:40
Total length:1:13:54

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Harrison, Tom (22 Mar 1996). "Mermen: A Glorious Lethal Euphoria". The Province. p. B8.
  2. ↑ "Mermen Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ "After many years in San Francisco, adventurous surf guitarist Jim Thomas of the Mermen finds his new groove in Santa Cruz". Santa Cruz Sentinel. February 11, 2010.
  4. ↑ Ganahl, Jane (9 Nov 1995). "The Mermen on the verge of catching a big one". San Francisco Examiner. p. B1.
  5. ↑ Crouch, Lisa Marie (14 June 1996). "Mermen Go Their Own Way, Swimmingly". Lifestyle/Previews. The Record. p. 30.
  6. ↑ Nash, John (17 Feb 1996). "Mermen bringing unique style of music". Bangor Daily News. p. 1.
  7. 1 2 MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 749.
  8. ↑ "Four Big Moos for the Mer-Guys". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021.
  9. ↑ Roberts, Michael. "The Mermen". Westword.
  10. ↑ Kava, Brad (October 11, 1996). "Rockin' for the Bammies – Mermen Top the Bill at San Jose Block Party". Eye. San Jose Mercury News. p. 19.
  11. 1 2 "A Glorious Lethal Euphoria". AllMusic.
  12. ↑ O'Neill, Mike (Oct 13, 1995). "The Mermen A Glorious Lethal Euphoria". Friday Extra!. The Tampa Tribune. p. 21.
  13. ↑ Fricke, David (Dec 28, 1995). "On the edge". Rolling Stone. No. 724–725. p. 125.
  14. ↑ "Mermen". Trouser Press. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Rotations". Miami New Times.
  16. ↑ Rotondi, James (Dec 1995). "Picks — A Glorious Lethal Euphoria by the Mermen". Guitar Player. Vol. 29, no. 12. p. 129.
  17. ↑ Kot, Greg (1 Mar 1996). "Surf's Up, Again". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. O.
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