Big Shot in the Dark was Timbuk 3's first album as a four-piece band. Courtney Audain played bass and steel drums, and Wally Ingram served as the drummer/percussionist.[5] "The Border Crossing" was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall.[6]Evan Johns played guitar on "Mudflap Girl".[7]
The Chicago Tribune called Timbuk 3 "a distinctly American band both in its spare, rootsy rock sound and its thematic obsession with the American dream gone awry."[10] The Calgary Herald deemed the album "Timbuk 3 at its twangy, idiosyncratic best."[9]
Kenneth Bays of AllMusic wrote: "On their fourth album, Timbuk 3 officially became a foursome ... there's a newfound sense of instrumental adventurousness all around. (''49 Plymouth' employs a lute, while an instrumental version of 'Sunshine' is played on steel drums)... Big Shot in the Dark has a bluesy, droning quality throughout, a vibe that would be amplified further on Timbuk 3's 1994 EP Looks Like Dark to Me."
Track listing
All songs written by Pat MacDonald, except where noted.
God Made an Angel
Sunshine
Two Medicines (Pat and Barbara K. MacDonald)
The Border Crossing (Pat and Barbara K. MacDonald)
Big Shot in the Dark
Mudflap Girl
Dis•••land (Was Made for You & Me)
Wake Up Little Darlin'
'49 Plymouth
The Little Things
Sunshine (Instrumental)
Personnel
Timbuk 3
Pat MacDonald: Vocals, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Harmonica, Lute, Sampler
Barbara K. MacDonald: Vocals, Electric Guitars, Violin, Percussion, Keyboards and Programming
Courtney Audain: Bass, Keyboards, Steel Drums, Various Other Percussion
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