Grotto of Miracles

Grotto of Miracles
Studio album by Sun City Girls
Released	1986 (1986)
Recorded	April 1985 (1985-04)
Studio	Radical Recording, Tempe, AZ
Genre	Experimental rock, psychedelic rock
Length	42:40
Label	Placebo PLA-19 [1]
Sun City Girls chronology
Sun City Girls (1984) Grotto of Miracles (1986) Horse Cock Phepner (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10 [4]

Grotto of Miracles is the second studio album by the American experimental rock band Sun City Girls. ^{[5] [6]} It was released in 1986 by Placebo Records. ^[7] Like many of the band's LPs, Grotto of Miracles has since become a collector's item. ^[8]

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote: "With demented lyrical concepts and such offbeat accessories as antelope bells, chimes and temple blocks, Grotto of Miracles is an ethnic stew that shows enormous creative growth." ^[7] The Chicago Reader wrote that the band's "wiggy instrumentals were flavored by surf rock, jazz, and noise, and would give way to pummeling art rock, nonsensical rants, and meandering improvisation." ^[9] Perfect Sound Forever praised the "beautiful, Rick [Bishop]-heavy, unusually near-accessible first side." ^[10] Maximum Rocknroll called the album "very musical, poetic, downright pretty, distinctively ugly, the great acid experience or background music." ^[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sun City Girls, except "Kal el Lazi Kad Ham", which is a traditional arrangement.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Radio Morocco"	5:00
2.	"Different Kind of Whore"	4:24
3.	"In a Lesbian Meadow"	2:17
4.	"Swing of Kings"	2:05
5.	"Damcar"	2:40
6.	"Kal el Lazi Kad Ham"	5:28

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Black Weather Shoes"	1:13
2.	"Mama's Milk (Too Dry)"	1:00
3.	"The Spice Nest"	5:17
4.	"Frankincense and Fish"	4:00
5.	"The Mystery of Death"	3:15
6.	"Ask Heem (202 456 7369)"	4:50
7.	"It's My Old Friend the Future"	1:16

Personnel

Adapted from the Grotto of Miracles liner notes. ^[12]

Sun City Girls Alan Bishop  – bass guitar, melodica, autoharp, alto saxophone, trumpet, tape, percussion, vocals Richard Bishop  – electric guitar, lap steel guitar, piano, keyboards, organ, melodica, cello, violin, flute, bells, percussion, vocals Charles Gocher  – drums, percussion, temple block, bells, chimes, cymbal, gong, güiro, maracas, tambourine, autoharp, flute, horns, vocals

Production and additional personnel Tom Connell – engineering, mixing Joseph Cultice  – photography David Oliphant – mixing Wade Olson – engineering Peggy Slinger – cover art Sun City Girls  – mixing, design

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	1986	Placebo	LP	PLA-19

References

1. Blush, Steven; Petros, George (October 19, 2010). American Hardcore (Second Edition): A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN   9781932595987 – via Google Books.
2. Chadbourne, Eugene. "Sun City Girls: Grotto of Miracles > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
3. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 841.
4. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 385.
5. Buckley, Peter (January 25, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN   9781843531050 – via Google Books.
6. "Sun City Girls raid the vaults and ready a new compilation of singles and rarities". Tiny Mix Tapes.
7. Robbins, Ira; Sprague, David (2007). "Sun City Girls". Trouser Press . Retrieved July 11, 2015.
8. Armstrong, Gene. "The Music Lives". Tucson Weekly.
9. Margasak, Peter. "Sun City Girls". Chicago Reader.
10. "Sun City Girls". www.furious.com.
11. "Grotto of Miracles LP".
12. Grotto of Miracles (sleeve). Phoenix, Arizona: Placebo Records. 1986.