Icky Mettle | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1993 | |||
Recorded | 1993 | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Length | 38:02 | |||
Label | Alias | |||
Producer | Caleb Southern | |||
Archers of Loaf chronology | ||||
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Icky Mettle is the debut studio album recorded by the indie rock band Archers of Loaf. It was produced and engineered by Caleb Southern at Kraptone Studios in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and released by Alias Records in 1993. A deluxe reissue of the album was released by Merge Records in 2011. [1]
The album was recorded and mixed in seven days. According to Eric Bachmann, "We spent like $5,000 to make it." [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The A.V. Club | A− [4] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | A [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [6] |
The Guardian | [7] |
NME | 7/10 [8] |
Pitchfork | 9.0/10 [1] |
Record Collector | [9] |
Rolling Stone | [10] |
Spin | 8/10 [11] |
Icky Mettle received generally positive reviews. Interview declared it the "Best Indie Rock Album of the Year". The Gazette listed it among the top 10 albums of 1993. [12]
Icky Mettle ranked number 32 in Pitchfork 's original Top 100 Albums of the 1990s list, [13] and Blender ranked it at number 56 in their 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever list. [14] In a retrospective review, Spin 's Mike Powell describes it as "an album of boyish fits and noisy guitar flurries. It's indie rock as hearty and art-free as oatmeal, before the line separating it from the mainstream dissolved, before it became so... eclectic." [11]
In a 2005 interview with The Triangle , Eric Bachmann reflected on the album: "When we first came out we had that energy. It's a weird thing that you can't put your finger on... I listened to Icky Mettle, and I almost cringe when I hear it. But what the people probably liked when they heard that record was the energy we were putting out." [15]
In 2011, Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional covered "Web in Front" on his album Covered in the Flood . [16]
All songs written by Eric Bachmann, Eric Johnson, Matt Gentling and Mark Price.
Archers of Loaf is an American indie rock band originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991. The group toured extensively and released four studio albums, one compilation, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was released after the band broke up in 1998. In 2011 the band began a reunion tour that coincided with the reissue of four of its albums by Merge Records. In July 2022, the band announced the release of their first album in nearly 25 years, Reason in Decline, released also via Merge Records in October of the same year.
No New York is a No Wave compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contains songs by four different artists, it has been considered important in defining and documenting the scene and movement, with the name "no wave" being influenced by that of the album according to some accounts.
Ultimatum is an EP by indie rock band The Long Winters. It was released by Barsuk Records on October 11, 2005, featuring six tracks, four of which were new songs released as a preview for their later release Putting the Days to Bed.
The Days of Wine and Roses is the second record and the debut full-length album by American alternative rock band the Dream Syndicate. Produced by Chris D., it was recorded in Los Angeles in September 1982 and released later that year on Chris D.'s Ruby Records, which was a division of Slash Records. It was released for the first time on CD in 1993. 2001 and 2015 reissues on CD featured different bonus tracks.
White Trash Heroes is the fourth studio album from the indie rock band Archers of Loaf, released in 1998 by Alias Records. In 2012 the album was reissued by Merge Records on two CDs with new, re-imagined art by Casey Burns.
The Mekons Rock 'n Roll is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Mekons, released in 1989.
Crooked Fingers was an American indie rock band, led by the former Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann. A vehicle for Bachmann's songwriting, the band's lineup changed between each record. Crooked Fingers released albums on WARM Records and Merge Records, and also independently. Bachmann retired the name Crooked Fingers in January 2016 with a pair of shows in New York City and Durham, NC, playing the first two records in their entirety with a string ensemble and has since been releasing albums under his name.
Steven Lee Kleisath is an American musician and has been a drummer for PULL, Strongarm, Shai Hulud, Further Seems Forever, and En Masse. The band PULL was originally called Friend or Foe. He also currently plays drums for the band The Darling Fire, who released the record Dark Celebration in 2019.
Eric Emil Bachmann is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer. He rose to prominence as the frontman of Archers of Loaf and Crooked Fingers. Originally a saxophone major at Appalachian State University, Bachmann's music is distinctive for its creative and innovative arrangements. In addition to the guitar, he plays the piano and banjo regularly on tour. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and grew up throughout the Southern United States. He currently lives in Athens, Georgia.
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Vee Vee is the second studio album by the American indie rock band Archers of Loaf, released in March 1995 by Alias Records. The album received very positive reviews from critics.
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