| Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1992 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:25 | |||
| Label | Alias | |||
| Producer | Mitch Easter | |||
| The Loud Family chronology | ||||
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Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things was the 1993 debut album by the Loud Family, a band formed by singer, songwriter and guitarist Scott Miller after the dissolution of his 1980s band Game Theory. It was Miller's fifth album to be produced by Mitch Easter.
The end of an exhaustive and turbulent tour promoting Game Theory's fifth album Two Steps from the Middle Ages , left musician Scott Miller strained and without a band. [3] [4] The frontman attempted to regroup with Michael Quercio on bass, Jozef Becker of Thin White Rope on drums, and Gil Ray, the only other Game Theory holdover remaining, on guitar. However, little momentum was achieved in this incarnation; leading to Miller shuttering the band for good by 1990. [5] [6]
Miller spent the interim working on new material he felt could fit in with the current alternative rock scene. [3] Under the moniker of The Loud Family, Miller enlisted Becker on drums, Zachary Smith on lead guitar, Paul Wieneke on keyboards, and R. Dunbar Poor on bass. [7] By 1991, Miller sent demo tapes to his colleague Brett Milano, a publicist at Alias Records; Milano thought Miller's work was "some of the best songwriting I’d ever heard" and got the band a deal at the label. [8]
The title of the album, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things, is derived from a verse in "A Horse with No Name" by America. [7] Meanwhile, the band's name, "The Loud Family" is borrowed from the television documentary series An American Family . [9] Miller spoke of the rebranding in 1993, saying "The four years that have elapsed since Game Theory's final album is all the time it takes for everyone who knew about you who was DJ'ing at college radio stations to graduate." [10]
Mitch Easter, who collaborated with Game Theory on every album since Real Nighttime , produced Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things. Easter encouraged Miller to create a more accessible album than their previous outputs. Easter had grown frustrated at Miller's lack of commercial success, saying in 2015, "I was sick of vicariously getting my feelings hurt as the world failed to recognize him -- I was starting to think he should go with Mutt Lange next time, so he can have a fucking hit." [11]
Recording took place at Soma Sync Studios in San Francisco, as well as Music Annex Studios and Avy Studios in Menlo Park, California. [12]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [13] |
| Chicago Tribune |   [14] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide |  [15] |
| Rolling Stone | [16] |
Rolling Stone 's 1993 review, by rock critic J.D. Considine, stated that "Miller puts his emphasis not on the words but on the melodies, and that pays off big time with songs like 'Sword Swallower,' the power-poppy 'Isaac's Law' and the driving, guitar-crazed 'Jimmy Still Comes Around'." Compared to Game Theory's work, the lyrics remained "obsessed with arcana," but Considine concluded that "when his songs boast choruses as catchy as the one in 'Take Me Down (Too Halloo),' odds are that you won't really care what the lyrics mean." [16]
According to Spin , "Sonically, the Loud Family offers a more guitar-heavy approach than Game Theory did, but Miller's songs and voice are immediately identifiable. Interpersonal relationships are discussed in sweet, brusque terms." Spin reviewer Byron Coley cited "the power of the sweet science that exists in Miller's songs," despite "interspersed jangle and woof." [17]
Wired said, "Before somebody inevitably describes the Loud Family as 'clever pop' and you go off sneering, be advised that this is the new musical phoenix risen whole and rocking from the ashes of the late great Game Theory." Citing imagery "lifted from a decade's worth of old books, TV shows, and rock songs, plus patented Scott Miller tongue-in-tweek lyrics (priceless song title: 'Ballad of How You Can All Shut Up')", Wired called the band "the aftermath of a high-speed collision between several solid pop bands and the cast of Firesign Theatre." [18]
Trouser Press wrote "Over the course of this nineteen-tune compendium of moody meandering, razor-edge power pop, cracked psychedelic introspection and weirder-than-weird ear candy, it’s clear that Miller is back in a big way." [19]
In a 1996 book, Rolling Stone's Scott Schinder wrote that Miller's "off-center genius didn't skip a beat as he transferred his unique perspective to his new group, whose musical muscularity gave his hook-intensive tunes the sonic clout to make them knockouts." [20] In the 2002 book All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul , reviewer Mark Deming wrote that "Miller's uncanny way with a hook remains unsurpassed" in this album, even as his "eccentricities" took "center stage alongside his ... uniquely melodic pop songs." Comparing this album to Miller's self-described "young-adult-hurt-feeling-athons" on early Game Theory albums, Deming wrote that "here hurt gets co-star billing with rage, anger, paranoia, and self-destructive angst; thematically, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things slips into a lyrical darkness far deeper than Game Theory at its moodiest, making this pure pop for those who have a good time being unhappy." [13] Steve Simels of Stereo Review commented that, in 1993, many music critics (including himself), reacted to the album "as if it was the second coming of the Beatles' 'White Album.' And with good reason: in terms of sheer musical inventiveness, it nearly was." [2]
Aimee Mann cited the album as a major influence on her debut release, Whatever , and called it one of her favorite records of all time. [21] [22]
All tracks are written by Scott Miller except when noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "He Do the Police in Different Voices" | 2:30 | |
| 2. | "Sword Swallower" | 1:44 | |
| 3. | "Aerodeliria" | 3:00 | |
| 4. | "Self Righteous Boy Reduced to Tears" | 1:06 | |
| 5. | "Jimmy Still Comes Around" | 4:19 | |
| 6. | "Take Me Down (Too Halloo)" | 3:11 | |
| 7. | "Don't All Thank Me at Once" | 1:26 | |
| 8. | "Idiot Son" | 2:40 | |
| 9. | "Some Grand Vision of Motives and Irony" | 2:44 | |
| 10. | "Spot the Setup" | ||
| 11. | Untitled | 2:12 | |
| 12. | "Inverness" | 4:11 | |
| 13. | "Rosy Overdrive" | 6:04 | |
| 14. | "Slit My Wrists" | 2:48 | |
| 15. | "Isaac's Law" | Zachary Smith | 3:50 |
| 16. | "The Second Grade Applauds" | 2:45 | |
| 17. | "Last Honest Face" | 4:43 | |
| 18. | "Even You" | 3:35 | |
| 19. | "Ballad of How You Can All Shut Up" | 1:21 | |
| 20. | "Give in World" | 3:15 | |
| Total length: | 57:25 | ||
Game Theory was an American power pop band, founded in 1982 by singer/songwriter Scott Miller, combining melodic jangle pop with dense experimental production and hyperliterate lyrics. MTV described their sound as "still visceral and vital" in 2013, with records "full of sweetly psychedelic-tinged, appealingly idiosyncratic gems" that continued "influencing a new generation of indie artists." Between 1982 and 1990, Game Theory released five studio albums and two EPs, which had long been out of print until 2014, when Omnivore Recordings began a series of remastered reissues of the entire Game Theory catalog. Miller's posthumously completed Game Theory album, Supercalifragile, was released in August 2017 in a limited first pressing.
The Loud Family was a San Francisco-based power pop band formed in 1991 by songwriter and guitarist Scott Miller, who previously led the 1980s band Game Theory. The Loud Family released six studio LPs and one live LP from 1991 through 2006. After Miller's death in 2013, three Loud Family members participated in recording sessions for Supercalifragile (2017), Miller's posthumous Game Theory album.
Slouching Towards Liverpool is an EP that includes live performances of songs from The Loud Family's first album, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things, as well as some live studio tracks recorded at WNUR-FM in Evanston, Illinois.
The Tape of Only Linda is the second full-length album by the Loud Family, released in 1994. The title of the album is a reference to the notorious tape recording of a live performance of "Hey Jude," by Paul McCartney, in which an engineer had isolated Linda McCartney's vocals.
Interbabe Concern is The Loud Family's third full-length album, and their first to be produced by Scott Miller instead of Mitch Easter. With the exception of keyboard player Paul Wieneke and Miller, this was a new line-up of the band.
Attractive Nuisance, released in 2000, is The Loud Family's fifth full-length album. It has the same line-up as the 1998 album, Days for Days. At the time of its release, it was announced as the final Loud Family album.
From Ritual to Romance is The Loud Family's sixth full-length album. It is a live album released during a six-year hiatus from studio recording, which followed the expiration of the group's recording contract with Alias Records in 2000.
What If It Works? is the Loud Family's seventh full-length album, a studio collaboration with Sacramento-based pop musician Anton Barbeau released in 2006. A March 2022 reissue of the album, with eleven bonus tracks, was announced by Omnivore Recordings.
Lolita Nation is the fourth full-length album by Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Originally released in 1987 as a double LP, the album was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in February 2016 as a double CD set with 21 bonus tracks.
Two Steps from the Middle Ages (1988) is the fifth studio album by power pop band Game Theory.
Tinker to Evers to Chance is a compilation album of songs by Game Theory, released in 1990. The liner notes describe the included tracks as songs which "reached national obscurity, as opposed to local obscurity." Band leader Scott Miller went on to form The Loud Family.
The Big Shot Chronicles is Game Theory's third full-length album, released in 1986. Produced by Mitch Easter, it was recorded with a new lineup of Game Theory members after leader and songwriter Scott Miller moved the band's base from Davis to San Francisco, California. The album was reissued on September 23, 2016 by Omnivore Recordings as part of the label's series of reissues of the Game Theory catalog.
Scott Warren Miller was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known for his work as leader of the 1980s band Game Theory and 1990s band The Loud Family, and as the author of a 2010 book of music criticism. He was described by The New York Times as "a hyperintellectual singer and songwriter who liked to tinker with pop the way a born mathematician tinkers with numbers", having "a shimmery-sweet pop sensibility, in the tradition of Brian Wilson and Alex Chilton."
Alison Faith Levy is a San Francisco-based musician and songwriter, known as a pop and jazz performer on keyboards and vocals, most notably as a member of power pop group The Loud Family, as well as for her later work as a children's musician in The Sippy Cups and as a solo artist.
Real Nighttime is the second full-length album from Game Theory, a California power pop band founded by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Released in 1985, the album is cited as "a watershed work in '80s paisley underground pop." A 30th anniversary reissue was released in March 2015, on CD and in a limited first pressing on red vinyl, with 13 bonus tracks.
Distortion is a 1984 five-song EP by Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. A remastered reissue of Distortion was released by Omnivore Recordings in November 2014 as a 10-inch EP on green vinyl, with four of the songs released on CD as part of Omnivore's reissued Dead Center compilation.
Blaze of Glory is the 1982 debut album from Game Theory, a California power pop band founded by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. After Miller's death in 2013, the album was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in a remastered edition with 15 bonus tracks which was released on CD and vinyl in 2014.
Distortion of Glory is a 1993 compilation album from the band Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Issued on CD by Alias Records, it anthologizes the band's debut album, most of the songs from two subsequent EPs, and one rare single.
Dead Center is a compilation album from Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Initially released in France on Lolita Records in 1984, a newly remastered version was released on CD on November 24, 2014 on Omnivore Recordings.
George Gilbert "Gil" Ray was an American rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, best known for his recordings in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of the bands Game Theory and The Loud Family. In late 2012, he joined Rain Parade as drummer for a series of reunion performances.
