Sing Sing Death House

Last updated

Sing Sing Death House
The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 29, 2002
RecordedApril 2001
StudioWestbeach Recorders, Hollywood, CA
Genre Punk rock
Length28:43
Label Hellcat
Producer The Distillers
The Distillers chronology
The Distillers
(2000)
Sing Sing Death House
(2002)
Coral Fang
(2003)
Singles from Sing Sing Death House
  1. "The Young Crazed Peeling"
    Released: 2002
  2. "City of Angels"
    Released: 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Rolling Stone (favorable) [4]
Stylus 6/10 [5]

Sing Sing Death House is the second studio album by the American punk rock band The Distillers, released in 2002 on Hellcat Records. The song "Seneca Falls" was featured in the game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and is a reference to the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.

Contents

Recording and production

Sing Sing Death House was recorded in a week. Production was rushed as the band was supposed to have the album completed within two weeks. However, after their engineer disappeared during the recording sessions, the band was forced to rush the album to meet deadlines. Following its completion, Epitaph delayed its release for nine months. [6]

Composition and lyrics

The lyrics on Sing Sing Death House are more direct than on the band's self-titled debut album. This came about due to criticism of the album's nonsensical lyrics in a review written by TheVillage Voice, [7] which greatly affected Brody. Brody called the review "scathing and hilarious and life-altering", but was grateful for the review's honesty. [8]

Critical reception

Andrew Bregman from AllMusic noted the album is "a story with an uncharacteristic ending that punks born of squalor can rise up and create music as impassioned and relatively positive as this", also calling it "authentic". In a 2003 piece called "Bands to Watch," Tim Kenneally from Spin wrote, "the band conjures the spirit of ’77 with razor-bladeriffery while [Brody] shouts about urban blight, school shootings, and her troubled youth". [9]

Track listing

All tracks written by Brody Dalle except where noted.

  1. "Sick Of It All" – 3:10
  2. "I Am A Revenant" – 3:28
  3. "Seneca Falls" – 3:01
  4. "The Young Crazed Peeling" – 3:16
  5. "Sing Sing Death House" – 1:43
  6. "Bullet And The Bullseye" – 1:12
  7. "City Of Angels" – 3:29
  8. "Young Girl" – 2:42
  9. "Hate Me" (Dalle, Mazzola) – 1:10
  10. "Desperate" – 1:22
  11. "I Understand" – 1:47
  12. "Lordy Lordy" – 2:19

Personnel

Production

Charts

Chart (2002)Peak
position
Billboard Top Independent Albums29

References

  1. AllMusic review
  2. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Distillers". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2 (4th ed.). MUZE. p.  26. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4.
  3. Alexandra, Rae (February 2, 2002). "Trouble Brewing | Albums". Kerrang! . No. 889. EMAP. p. 50. ISSN   0262-6624.
  4. "The Distillers: Sing Sing Death House : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
  5. Hickman, Brett (September 1, 2003). "The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House - Stylus Magazines". Archived from the original on October 21, 2004. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  6. "Distillers' punk comes equipped with fangs". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  7. "So this Guy walks into a Bar..." The Village Voice. December 12, 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  8. Garber-Paul, Elisabeth; Garber-Paul, Elisabeth (October 30, 2020). "Brody Dalle on the Distillers' Debut at 20: 'I Was Trying to Find My Sea Legs'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  9. "Bands To Watch: The Distillers | SPIN". Spin. July 23, 2003. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.