Slurrup | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 13, 2015 | |||
Recorded | 2010–2013 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 33:13 | |||
Label | Fat Possum | |||
Producer | Nathan Cook (producer), Liam Hayes | |||
Liam Hayes chronology | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 72/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Pitchfork Media | 7.3/10.0 [3] |
Slurrup is the fifth studio album by American artist Liam Hayes, released in January 2015. It is full of short and tight songs with searing double tracked guitars and odd keyboards, which contrasts with the expansive, ornate pop of his previous album, Korp Sole Roller. Liam Hayes and Nathan Cook produced the album together in Chicago. The pair loaded the album with clever production flourishes, including phasing effects, backwards chords, echo, generous use of reverb on the guitars, and occasional orchestral backing tracks. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
In a 2015 interview with the Chicagoist magazine, Hayes discussed the creation of the album:
"I've always liked rock'n'roll, so I'm kind of going back to things that I really liked in the past but had never thought of as a valid way to present my songs. I kind of wanted to reconnect with some of the things I liked when I started out with music as a kid. You know things like rock'n'roll and pranks and magic. It's actually what my first album might have sounded like if I had made an album before I made my first single. [9]
I've done a lot of things on records in a lot of different ways, but I've never done anything that might be considered scaled-back, or rudimentary, or raw. However, as much as the band is the center of this album, we didn't just turn on some mics and bang out the tunes. Just because it doesn't immediately sound densely layered, it doesn't mean that the songs aren't well arranged. The overdubs on Slurrup are closer to supporting the overall sound of the band, which is something that Nathan and I really worked hard on. I really wanted this album to sound and feel more like a band, and I think that we were able to do that. I think we were able to capture that sense of interaction that happens when people play together in a room and not bury it under too much other stuff." [9]
In spite of the record being closer to the sound of three people in a room, Hayes and his companions on Slurrup - John San Juan on bass and Eric Reidleberger on drums, found ways to replicate a layered sound with a stripped down band. For example, San Juan's bass lines are more like counter melodies rather than a simple driving force." [9]
"When you're doing something like what we did with less instrumentation, the challenge is to imply the other things that need to be there without overdoing it," Hayes explained. "It really helped a lot for John to not just play the bottom root notes or the fifths on the bass, but to add in counter melodies to make it work."" [9]
Slurrup is full of strange instrumental interludes and surreal yet humorous sound collages. Channel 44 contains three minutes of what sounds like an amusement park ride from the other side, and the album ends with the sound of something slurping from a bowl. [10]
Side One
Side Two
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
Yo La Tengo is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew. In 2015, original guitarist Dave Schramm rejoined the band and appeared on their fourteenth album, Stuff Like That There.
Susan Janet Ballion, known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who were active from 1976 to 1996. They released 11 studio albums, and had several UK Top 20 singles including "Hong Kong Garden", "Happy House" and "Peek-a-Boo", plus a US Top 25 single in the Billboard Hot 100, with "Kiss Them for Me".
Think Tank is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 5 May 2003. Continuing the jam-based studio constructions of the group's previous album, 13 (1999), the album expanded on the use of sampled rhythm loops and brooding, heavy electronic sounds. There are also heavy influences from dance music, hip hop, dub, jazz, and African music, an indication of songwriter Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests.
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.
Juju is the fourth studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was recorded at Surrey Sound studio with Nigel Gray as co-producer, and was released on 19 June 1981 by Polydor Records. Two singles were released from Juju: "Spellbound" and "Arabian Knights".
Moonshake were a British-based experimental rock/post-rock band, existing between 1991 and 1997. The only consistent member was singer/sampler player/occasional guitarist David Callahan, who initially co-led the project with Margaret Fiedler. The band was notable for its extensive use of textures and sampler technology in a rock context. In his 1996 article on Krautrock and its influences, Simon Reynolds described Moonshake as being among the "post-rock groove collectives".
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.
Marshall Crenshaw is the debut studio album by American musician Marshall Crenshaw. It was released on April 28, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. Crenshaw, a performer in the musical Beatlemania, had begun to write songs for the album while staying in New York. The album was recorded with his backing band and producer Richard Gottehrer, engineer Thom Panunzio, and second engineer Jim Ball.
Songs to Remember is the debut studio album by the British pop band Scritti Politti. The album's recording had to be delayed for nine months due to frontman Green Gartside's collapse and illness, and then after completion its release was delayed for a further year at the band's request. It was eventually released on 3 September 1982 by Rough Trade Records, peaking at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was heavily influenced by disco, reggae, and soul music, and marked the beginning of Scritti Politti's move from their underground DIY post-punk sound towards commercial pop music.
The Night Marchers are an American alternative rock band formed in 2007 in San Diego, California, United States. The band is composed of singer/guitarist John Reis, guitarist Gar Wood, bassist Tommy Kitsos, and drummer Jason Kourkounis. Reis, Wood, and Kourkounis had previously performed together in the Hot Snakes, while Kitsos previously performed with CPC Gangbangs. The Night Marchers' debut album See You in Magic was released in 2008 through Vagrant Records. The Allez Allez track “Fisting The Fan Base” was featured on the NHL 15 soundtrack.
Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parker, Dominic Simper, Jay Watson, Cam Avery, and Julien Barbagallo. The group has a close affiliation with fellow Australian psychedelic rock band Pond, sharing members and collaborators, including Nick Allbrook, formerly a live member of Tame Impala. Originally signed to Modular Recordings, Tame Impala is now signed to Interscope Records in the United States and Fiction Records in the United Kingdom.
Hear Me Now is Secondhand Serenade's third studio album, released on August 3, 2010. The album debuted at #42 on the Billboard 200, 2 slots prior to his 2008 release "A Twist in My Story", making his highest chart debut on Billboard 200.
Chapel Club were an English indie-synthpop band from London, consisting of singer Lewis Bowman, drummer Rich Mitchell, bassist Liam Arklie and keyboardists/guitarists Michael Hibbert and Alex Parry.
If Not Now, When? is the seventh studio album by American rock band Incubus, released on July 12, 2011 and named after the novel by Primo Levi. Preceded by the singles "Adolescents" and "Promises, Promises", the album represented the band's longest gap between studio albums at the time, and their final full-length release through long-time label Epic Records. Described by guitarist Michael Einziger as "a very straightforward, concise album," If Not Now, When? was recorded in the wake of an extended hiatus, and produced by frequent collaborator Brendan O'Brien. The album's cover features high wire artist Philippe Petit.
Lonerism is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings. Like the band's debut studio album, Innerspeaker (2010), Lonerism was written, recorded, performed, and produced by Kevin Parker, with live member Jay Watson contributing on two tracks. Recorded mostly in Perth, Australia, and Paris, France, Lonerism builds on the psychedelic sound of its predecessor and features fewer guitars and more synthesisers and samples. Parker attempted to incorporate his love for pop music into his songwriting for the record through catchier melodies. Many tracks feature ambient sounds recorded by Parker with a dictaphone. The album's theme of isolation is reflected in the album cover, featuring an image of a fenced-off Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
Kevin Richard Parker is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and DJ, best known for his musical project Tame Impala, for which he writes, performs, records, and produces the music. Parker has released four Tame Impala albums: Innerspeaker (2010), Lonerism (2012), Currents (2015), and The Slow Rush (2020). He has won 13 ARIA Music Awards, two APRA Awards, and a Brit Award, and has received four Grammy Award nominations.
Cellarful of Noise is the debut studio album from 1980s pop-rock act Cellarful of Noise, a solo project of Mark Avsec of Donnie Iris fame. The album was released in June 1985.
If I'm the Devil... is the fourth and final studio album by American rock band Letlive, released globally through Epitaph Records on June 10, 2016. Recorded throughout 2015, it is their first album since the departure of guitarist and percussionist Jean Nascimento, who had been a member of the band from 2007 to 2014.
Quirk Out is the debut mini album by Anglo-Irish experimental rock band Stump. After building up a following with their unique sound and live performances, Stump recorded Quirk Out as their second release with producer Hugh Jones at Rockfield Studios in July 1986, following the release of the Mud on a Colon EP earlier in the year. The band's aim for Quirk Out was to capture the band's energy as a live band on studio recordings. The record blends genres such as avant-garde, funk rock with indie rock sensibilities. The best known song from the album, "Buffalo", had already been released on the NME compilation C86, an influential cassette compilation containing newly recorded music from different bands of the British independent music scene.