Seasick (album)

Last updated
Seasick
Seasick.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 7, 1996
Recorded1996
Genre Indie pop
Length38:47
Label Slash/London
Producer Steve McDonald, Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen chronology
Seasick
(1996)
What Is Not to Love
(1998)

Seasick is the debut studio album by the American band Imperial Teen, released on May 7, 1996, by Slash Records. [1] The album received positive reviews from critics.

Contents

Recording and release

Seasick was recorded in one week after the band had been together for six months. [2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [4]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
NME 8/10 [6]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Spin 9/10 [2]
The Village Voice A− [9]

Writing for Spin , Barry Walters praised the songwriting, stating that the "hooks are immediate, nearly non-stop, and the happy/sad lyrics draw you in with abstract intimacy." [2] The New York Times concluded that "listening to Seasick is like listening to a beautifully arranged Beach Boys album with the lyrics changed to diatribes about how much the band hates sun, surfing and girls." [10] The album was ranked number 24 in The Village Voice 's 1996 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. [11]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic reviewer Ned Raggett felt that Seasick was "in many ways the lost Breeders album after Last Splash —brash, sharp-edged, taking no crap, and having good fun while doing so." [3]

Track listing

  1. "Imperial Teen" – 4:56
  2. "Water Boy" – 1:37
  3. "Butch" – 4:28
  4. "Pig Latin" – 3:04
  5. "Blaming the Baby" – 2:15
  6. "You're One" – 3:23
  7. "Balloon" – 3:46
  8. "Tippy Tap" – 4:14
  9. "Copafeelia" – 4:33
  10. "Luxury" – 4:23
  11. "Eternity" – 3:54

Related Research Articles

<i>Daydream Nation</i> 1988 studio album by Sonic Youth

Daydream Nation is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, and it was released by Enigma Records as a double album.

<i>Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury</i> 1992 studio album by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury is the debut album by alternative hip hop crew The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, released in 1992. Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury was met with critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Christgau</span> American music journalist (born 1942)

Robert Thomas Christgau is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."

<i>Crazy Rhythms</i> 1980 studio album by The Feelies

Crazy Rhythms is the debut studio album by American rock band the Feelies. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 29, 1980, and in the United States in April 1980, through British record label Stiff. Its fusion of post-punk and jangle pop was influential on the forthcoming alternative rock genre, with R.E.M., among others, citing the album as an influence. Although it was not commercially successful initially, it has remained critically lauded in the decades since its release.

<i>Bricks Are Heavy</i> 1992 studio album by L7

Bricks Are Heavy is the third studio album by American rock band L7, released on April 14, 1992, by Slash Records. The album peaked at number 160 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the Heatseekers Albums chart. As of June 2000, Bricks Are Heavy has sold 327,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pazz & Jop</span> Annual poll of top musical releases

Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper The Village Voice and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year absence from the Voice, each year from 1974 onward. The polls are tabulated from the submitted year-end top 10 lists of hundreds of music critics. It was named in acknowledgement of the defunct magazine Jazz & Pop, and adopted the ratings system used in that publication's annual critics poll.

<i>Wild Gift</i> 1981 studio album by X

Wild Gift is the second studio album by American rock band X, released on May 6, 1981, by Slash Records. It was very well received critically, and was voted the year's second best album in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll. Wild Gift was later ranked at number 334 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

<i>Los Angeles</i> (X album) 1980 studio album by X

Los Angeles is the debut studio album by American rock band X, released on April 26, 1980, by Slash Records. It was produced by ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen".

<i>Let It Be</i> (The Replacements album) 1984 album by the Replacements

Let It Be is the third studio album by American rock band The Replacements. It was released on October 2, 1984, by Twin/Tone Records. A post-punk album with coming-of-age themes, Let It Be was recorded by the band after they had grown tired of playing loud and fast exclusively as on their 1983 Hootenanny album; the group decided to write songs that were, according to vocalist Paul Westerberg, "a little more sincere."

<i>Everything Is Wrong</i> (album) 1995 studio album by Moby

Everything Is Wrong is the third studio album by American electronica musician Moby, released on March 14, 1995, by record labels Mute in the United Kingdom and Elektra in the United States. It was released with a limited-edition bonus disc of ambient music titled Underwater.

<i>Dream of Life</i> 1988 studio album by Patti Smith

Dream of Life is the fifth studio album by Patti Smith, released in June 1988 on Arista Records.

<i>Le Tigre</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Le Tigre

Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American music trio Le Tigre. It was released October 25, 1999, on Mr. Lady Records. The album combined pop music with the band's feminist political lyrics. It received positive reviews from music critics.

<i>Hymns to the Silence</i> 1991 studio album by Van Morrison

Hymns to the Silence is the twenty-first studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was his first studio double album. Morrison recorded the album in 1990 in Beckington at The Wool Hall Studios and in London at Townhouse and Westside Studios.

<i>Squeezing Out Sparks</i> 1979 studio album by Graham Parker

Squeezing Out Sparks is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Graham Parker and his band the Rumour. The album was released in March 1979. Although the Rumour were not credited on the cover, their name was included on the album label.

<i>Electr-O-Pura</i> 1995 studio album by Yo La Tengo

Electr-O-Pura is the seventh studio album by American indie rock band Yo La Tengo, released on May 2, 1995, by record label Matador. The album received very positive reviews from music critics.

<i>Palomine</i> 1992 studio album by Bettie Serveert

Palomine is the debut studio album by Dutch indie rock band Bettie Serveert. It was released in October 1992 by Brinkman Records. The album was issued in the United Kingdom by the 4AD subsidiary label Guernica on 2 November 1992, and in the United States by Matador Records in 1993.

<i>...And a Time to Dance</i> 1983 EP by Los Lobos

...And a Time to Dance is a 1983 EP by Los Lobos. It was co-produced by T-Bone Burnett and Steve Berlin and was the band's first release on Slash Records. The EP brought the band its first wide acclaim. It was voted best EP of the year in the Village Voice's influential Pazz & Jop critics poll. Critic Robert Christgau gave the record an "A−" in his Consumer Guide, calling it "good old rock and roll East L.A. style." Trouser Press raved about "a spicy romp back and forth across musical borders few can traverse with such ease," while Rolling Stone called it "an infectious dance record that deserves to be heard by rock fans."

<i>Ocean of Sound</i> 1996 compilation album by Various artists

Ocean of Sound is a 1996 compilation album compiled and produced by English musician and author David Toop. The two-disc, cross-licensed "various artists" compilation contains 32 tracks culled from a variety of musical sources, including dub, exotica, free jazz, and field recordings. Toop compiled the recordings to serve as both a historical survey of ambient music and an aural companion to his 1995 book Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Witness</span> 2014 single by St. Vincent

"Digital Witness" is the second single from St. Vincent, the eponymous fourth album by American musician St. Vincent. It was released with another single, "Birth in Reverse", on a gold vinyl triangle packaged with the album. The song, whose lyrics deal with dependence on social media, and its music video have both received positive attention from critics. Darkside produced a remix soon after the song's release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seasons (Waiting on You)</span> 2014 song by Future Islands

"Seasons (Waiting on You)" is a song by American synthpop band Future Islands. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album Singles, and was released as the album's lead single on February 4, 2014. The song received much critical acclaim, topping The Village Voice's annual year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll and also being named the best track of 2014 by publications such as NME, Pitchfork, and Spin. In 2019, it was named the 34th best song of the 2010s by Pitchfork, and was ranked 94th on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2010s.

References

  1. Mirkin, Steven (Mar 30, 1996). "Slash's Imperial Teen in motion with 'Seasick'". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 13. p. 21.
  2. 1 2 3 Walters, Barry (June 1996). "Imperial Teen: Seasick". Spin . Vol. 12, no. 3. p. 110. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  3. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Seasick – Imperial Teen". AllMusic . Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  4. Flaherty, Mike (1996-05-10). "Seasick". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  5. Sweeney, Kathy (1996-09-13). "Imperial Teen: Seasick (Slash/London)". The Guardian .
  6. Cigarettes, Johnny (1996-07-09). "Imperial Teen – Seasick". NME . Archived from the original on 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  7. McDonnell, Evelyn (1996-05-16). "Imperial Teen: Seasick". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 2002-05-28. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  8. Matos, Michaelangelo (2004). "Imperial Teen". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 403. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8 . Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  9. Christgau, Robert (1996-09-17). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  10. Strauss, Neil (14 May 1996). "Realities of Living, Bad and Not". The New York Times. p. C13.
  11. "The 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice . 1997-02-25. Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-08-31.