Cruel Guards | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 13 October 2007 | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Length | 44:00 [1] | |||
Label | Dew Process | |||
Producer | ||||
The Panics chronology | ||||
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Singles from Cruel Guards | ||||
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Cruel Guards is the third studio album by Australian indie rock band, The Panics. It was released on 13 October 2007 by Dew Process. The album debuted and peaked at number 18 on the ARIA Charts and was certified gold in 2008. [4]
The album was Triple J's feature album for the week of 8 October 2007. [5] At the J Awards of 2007, the album won Australian Album of the Year. [6] Drew Wootton said "It was amazing to win that award. We celebrated for days with the Triple J staff and then just fell over." [7]
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2008, the album won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album while Scott Horscroft was nominated for Producer of the Year and Engineer the Year. [8] [9] [10]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Dwarf | (favorable) [11] |
FasterLouder | (favorable) [12] |
The Independent | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mess and Noise | (favorable) [14] |
Polaroids of Androids | 3.7/10 [15] |
Adam Greenberg from AllMusic said "Frontman Jae Laffer gives a husky delivery that swoons just a bit here and there over the top of a layer of guitar and drums, an occasional bit of keyboard inflection, and depending on the song, a bit of classic Motown-style strings." Greenberg continued "The band tells their stories, touching on the grey areas of pop, alluding to U2 in the rhythm guitar for a moment in 'Live Without'. They touch on darker beach songs in 'Confess', they evoke contemporary Bob Dylan recordings in 'Sundowner' with an almost weary, dim delivery but a grandiose chorus movement. The album defies a clear definition other than 'adult contemporary' but it's attractive, it's catchy, and it's exploratory all at once. Definitely worth a spin or two." [1]
All tracks written by Jae Laffer, Paul Otway, Drew Wootton, Myles Wootton and Julian Grigor. [16]
Bonus EP
Limited copies of the CD included a bonus EP of covers called Join the Dots.
The Panics
Additional musicians
Chart (2007–2008) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [17] | 18 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [18] | Gold | 35,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Country | Date | Format | Label | Catalogue |
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Australia | 13 October 2007 | CD, digital download, LP | Dew Process | DEW900017 / DEW9000119 |
CD + EP | DEW90004 | |||
North America | 2007 | CD, digital download | DEW74987 | |
United Kingdom | 2009 | Pública Records | Public CD 3 |
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