| Pure Juice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Recorded | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |||
| Studio | Village Recorder [1] Ocean | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, power pop | |||
| Length | 43:37 | |||
| Label | Maverick | |||
| Producer | Chris Shaw, Summercamp | |||
| Summercamp chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Pure Juice | ||||
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Pure Juice is the debut album by alternative rock band Summercamp, released in 1997 by Maverick Recording Company.
In late 1996, Summercamp signed with Madonna's Maverick Records, which was part of Warner Music Group. Afterwards, Summercamp began working on their major label debut, Pure Juice. [2] Summercamp would be heavily hyped in the press, [3] with Madonna telling MTV that the band were better than Oasis. [4] Pure Juice was released on June 17, 1997, and that same month the band joined the 1997 edition of the Lollapalooza festival, which ran to August. [2] [5] Around that time, a music video was also released for the single "Drawer". The tour for the album lasted through to December 1997, with the band playing in Japan that month. [6]
"Drawer" peaked at No. 21 on the Modern Rock chart in the US, receiving airplay in the summer of 1997. [2] [5] Another single, "Should I Walk Away", became a top ten hit in Japan. [2] The "Drawer" video was shown on MTV's alternative show 120 Minutes . It premiered on the June 29, 1997, episode, and aired again on the July 6, 1997, episode, which was hosted by the bands Faith No More and MxPx. [7]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [8] |
Jason Ankeny of AllMusic labeled the album "derivative and highly formulaic" and "heavily influenced by late-'70s radio". [8] Sky Daniels of R&R magazine commented in 1997 that, "Summercamp continues a natural progression for Santa Barbara bands, beginning with a harder faster approach than its predecessors, but still yielding the prerequisite humm-ability that living in Paradise elicits." [9] In July 1997, R.S. Murthi of Malaysian paper the New Straits Times gave the album's sound four out of five stars, and the performances three out of five stars. He wrote, "the harmonies are not terrific, but they work, and often enhance the instrumental textures. If you need an analogy let's just say the band sounds like a less folkish Toad the Wet Sprocket." [10]
In 1998, "On Her Mind" appeared in the film BASEketball , and in 2000 the song "Nowhere Near" appeared on the soundtrack for Digimon: The Movie . "Play It By Ear" was also used in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Crush".
All songs produced by Chris Shaw and Summercamp.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Drawer" | Tim Cullen | 4:01 |
| 2. | "Nowhere Near" | Tim Cullen | 2:20 |
| 3. | "The Bright Side" | Sean McCue | 4:23 |
| 4. | "Pure Juice" | Tim Cullen | 2:07 |
| 5. | "Should I Walk Away" | Sean McCue | 3:09 |
| 6. | "Keep an Eye on You" | Tim Cullen | 4:22 |
| 7. | "Play It By Ear" | Sean McCue | 2:32 |
| 8. | "Ninety Nine" | Tim Cullen | 3:39 |
| 9. | "On Her Mind" | Tim Cullen | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Mountain Size" | Sean McCue | 3:07 |
| 11. | "Two Shades of Grey" | Sean McCue | 3:36 |
| 12. | "With Your Blessing" | Tim Cullen | 3:03 |
| 13. | "Thing of the Past" | Tim Cullen | 4:12 |
Additional personnel
This record has yielded huge early results, debuting on the Alternative chart in its second week at No. 44. Benefitting from incredible timing, the record provides the perfect balance of rock and pop that recently the format has actively sought. Summercamp, which includes Tim Cullen (vocals /guitar), Sean McCue (vocals /guitar), Misha Feldman (bass), and Tony Sevener (drums) paired up with producer Chris Shaw (Redd Kross, Weezer) to field summer's first heat wave.
