| Little Yachty | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 26, 2019 | |||
| Genre | Yacht rock | |||
| Length | 37:46 | |||
| Label | BMG | |||
| Producer | Michael Lloyd, Sam Hollander, and Harry Fraud | |||
| Sugar Ray chronology | ||||
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Little Yachty is the seventh studio album by American musical group Sugar Ray, released in 2019 through BMG. Singer Mark McGrath and guitarist Rodney Sheppard are the only members of the band to have appeared on their previous album, 2009's Music for Cougars .
The album's title is a reference to both the yacht rock musical genre and the rapper Lil Yachty. Lil Yachty was born the same year Sugar Ray's first hit "Fly" was released, and when GQ asked McGrath if he'd heard a reaction from him, McGrath said, "I wanted to be the first to let him know that this was happening. And I was hoping he would be cool with it and had a sense of humor. And he hit me back on Twitter and said, 'Oh, bro, you guys are legends and if we can ever jam, I'd love to jam with you guys some day.' So I'm so happy to get his co-sign on it because if it bummed him out, that would have bummed me out." [1] In another interview with Forbes , McGrath explained that he grew up listening to yacht rock music, saying that "if you look at the '90s and the hits we have they're sort of yacht rocky for the times. There's a beach feel to them, certainly a summery vibe to them. So when we went into making this record we said, 'Let's make the most Sugar Ray sounding record we can.' And we started messing around with it. And the more I was listening to what we were putting together the more yacht rocky it felt." [2]
The album is a continuation of the lighter sound the band has had since 1999's 14:59 . McGrath said to GQ, "as a 51-year-old man, I have no interest in going backwards and playing down tunes, rad rock, or anything of that nature. I've kind of been there and done that." Regarding his expectations for the album, McGrath added, "my hopes for the record are already met. We made a record and it's coming out. So it's done." [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three and a half out of five stars, writing that "down to a duo of Mark McGrath and Rodney Sheppard, Sugar Ray rebrand themselves as a breezy pop group with Little Yachty. As its winking title suggests, Little Yachty is indebted to the cool, smooth sounds of Yacht Rock, that specific brand of '70s soft rock that's tied to the sea", adding that "McGrath and Sheppard are all in on the soft rock vibe — [they] resolutely refuse to crank their amplifiers." Erlewine also noted that, "It's a long way from the punk-funk of Lemonade and Brownies , but not too far removed from Music for Cougars ." [3] Matt Coker of the OC Weekly wrote in August 2019 that the band has "changed from funk punk to hardcore punk to hair metal to funk metal to rap rock to power pop to whatever else was getting airplay at the moment", adding that with the album "Sugar Ray latched onto another new sound: yacht rock." He went on to write that the album is "not horrible", saying that "'Trouble' sounds like something you’d hear from a young country act attempting to crossover into pop, while 'Good Good Loving' could be a solid track for a boy band pushing boundaries into ska." [4]
In 2023, American Songwriter placed "Make It Easy" fifth on their list of the top 10 Sugar Ray songs. [5]
Stereolab are an Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound features influences from krautrock and 1960s French pop music, often incorporating a repetitive motorik beat with the use of vintage electronic keyboards and female vocals sung in English and French. Their lyrics have political and philosophical themes influenced by the Surrealist and Situationist art movements. While performing, they play in a more feedback-driven and guitar-oriented style. From the mid-1990s, the band began to draw from funk, jazz and Brazilian music.
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Sugar Ray is an American rock band formed in Newport Beach, California, in 1986. Originally playing heavier funk metal and nu metal style music, the band achieved mainstream popularity in 1997 with their more pop-influenced single "Fly". The song's success led the band to shift its style dramatically to the more radio-friendly pop sound with their subsequent releases. Their best-selling album, 14:59, was released in 1999, and featured popular singles "Every Morning", "Someday", followed by a self-titled album in 2001 featuring the single "When It's Over". The band would release two further albums, In the Pursuit of Leisure (2003) and Music for Cougars (2009), though the albums and respective singles generally sold far less. The band continued to tour into the 2010s.
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Mark Sayers McGrath is an American singer who is the lead vocalist of the rock band Sugar Ray. McGrath is also known for his work as a co-host of Extra, and he was the host of Don't Forget the Lyrics! in 2010. McGrath hosted the second season of the TV show Killer Karaoke, taking the place of Jackass star Steve-O.
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