Big Walnuts Yonder (album)

Last updated
Big Walnuts Yonder
Big Walnuts Yonder (Album).jpg
Studio album by
Big Walnuts Yonder
ReleasedMay 5, 2017 [1]
RecordedJuly 12–14, 2014 [2]
Studio Studio G Brooklyn [2] [3]
Genre Indie rock
Length37:25 [2]
Label Sargent House
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 72/100 [4]
Review scores
SourceRating
The Spill MagazineStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Exclaim! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

Big Walnuts Yonder is an indie rock album released in 2017 by the eponymous supergroup. Big Walnuts Yonder consists of bassist/vocalist Mike Watt from Minutemen, guitarist Nels Cline from Wilco, drummer Greg Saunier from Deerhoof, and guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart from Tera Melos. [7]

Contents

Production

The album was recorded in three days during the summer of 2014 in Brooklyn, New York City, [8] live with very limited overdubs [9] and produced by Tony Maimone. [10] Months later vocals were added with Reinhart handling seven and Watt performing two. [9] Watt provided most of material by sharing rough versions of his compositions, or "launchpads" as he calls them, [1] played on bass. [11] On these tracks guitar was added after Watt's basslines, something that initially intimidated Reinhart [12] but Cline was familiar with the method of composing having worked this way before with Watt on Contemplating the Engine Room . [12] Cline and Saunier each contributed a track of their own. [13]

Raymond Pettibon created the album art. [3]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."All Against All"02:18
2."Sponge Bath"03:51
3."Flare Star Phantom"08:48
4."I Got Marty Feldman Eyes"03:28
5."Raise the Drawbridges?"02:19
6."Ready to Pop!"02:36
7."Forgot to Brush"04:03
8."Rapid Driver Moon Inhaler"03:33
9."Pud"02:49
10."Heat Melter"03:40

Reception

Under the Radar's' Dustin Krcatovich's compared it to a "modern take on classic Beefheart" and praised the musicians ability to "combine weirdo prog-level precision and classic SST freakcore abandon" [14] The Spill Magazine's Ljubinko Zivkovic gave it three out of five stars and called it "a mixed bag with some stellar moments." [5] Justin Cober-Lake of Dusted praised the musicianship calling it "unsurprisingly unpredictable". [15] Scott A. Gray of Exclaim! found some of the tracks indulgent but ultimately found "the majority of Big Walnuts Yonder is fantastic." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Watt</span> American musician

Michael David Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo career with the 1994 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, he has since released three additional solo albums, most recently in 2010 with Hyphenated-man. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder (2008–present), a member of the art rock group Banyan (1997–present) and is involved with several other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges.

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References

  1. 1 2 Rogers, Aaron (August 16, 2017). "A Collection of Accidents & Coincidences: Mike Watt, Big Walnuts Yonder, & the Minutemen". EarthQuaker Devices. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Big Walnuts Yonder". AllMusic . Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Rayburn, Dave (April 27, 2017). "big walnuts yonder: an exclusive q&a with mike watt". Discussions magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Big Walnuts Yonder by Big Walnuts Yonder". Metacritic . Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Zivkovic, Ljubinko. "Spill Album Review: Big Walnuts Yonder - Big Walnuts Yonder". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Gray, Scott A. (May 7, 2017). "Big Walnuts Yonder - Big Walnuts Yonder". Exclaim! . Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  7. ↑ Pearce, Sheldon (March 1, 2017). "Minutemen, Wilco, Deerhoof Members Announce Album From New Band Big Walnuts Yonder". Pitchfork . Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Upcoming Releases - Big Walnuts Yonder". Punk Rock Theory. February 28, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Mike Watt and Big Walnuts Yonder Announce Debut Album, Premiere Single (LISTEN)". Bass Player . April 25, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Big Walnuts Yonder - Sargent House". Sargent House . Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ Gluckin, Tzvi (August 31, 2017). "Big Walnuts Yonder: Let's Start a Proj". Premier Guitar . Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  12. 1 2 Geslani, Michelle (February 28, 2017). "Members of Minutemen, Wilco, Deerhoof, and Tera Melos form new band called Big Walnuts Yonder". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ Kaye, Ben (May 1, 2017). "Big Walnuts Yonder (Minutemen, Wilco, Deerhoof, Tera Melos) share self-titled debut album: Stream". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  14. ↑ Krcatovich, Dustin (May 2, 2017). "Big Walnuts Yonder Big Walnuts Yonder". Under the Radar . Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  15. ↑ Cober-Lake, Justin (May 22, 2017). "Big Walnuts Yonder–Big Walnuts Yonder (Sargent House)". Dusted. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
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