Small Minds

Last updated

Small Minds
Small Minds.png
Studio album by
Released1995
Genre Bluegrass, Newgrass, satire
Length40:27
Label Watermelon [1]
Producer Conrad Deisler
Austin Lounge Lizards chronology
Paint Me on Velvet
(1993)
Small Minds
(1995)
Employee of the Month
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Small Minds is a studio album by Austin-based bluegrass band Austin Lounge Lizards. [1] [5] [6] It continues the Lizards' tradition of social and political satire.

Contents

Critical reception

The Austin Chronicle called the opening track a "drunk, horn-seasoned version of Emily Kaitz's Kerrville fave 'Shallow End of the Gene Pool.'" [3]

AllMusic called Small Minds "a finely played and sung album that's a pleasure to listen to and gets a definite recommendation." [2] "Gingrich the Newt" postulates politician Newt Gingrich has given "the humble newt species a bad name) to the intelligentsia of the art world." [2] The song begins: "We'd like to set the record straight by singing of the newt." It then implies Gingrich has none of these values. Instead, "Gingrich the Newt is puffed up like a toad / So full of himself that he's bound to explode." [7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Lead VocalLength
1."Shallow End of the Gene Pool"Emily Kaitz Kirk Williams 4:43
2."Half a Man"Hank Card, Conrad DeislerHank Card3:03
3."Old Blevins"Conrad Deisler, Hank CardConrad Deisler4:47
4."Big Tex's Girl"Hank Card, Kristen NelsonHank Card5:33
5."Do Not Go to Tennessee"Hank CardHank Card2:46
6."Truckload of Art"Terry AllenRichard Bowden3:55
7."Gingrich the Newt"Hank CardHank Card1:56
8."Irving"Hank CardHank Card3:56
9."Life Is Hard, But Life Is Hardest When You're Dumb"Hank CardTom Pittman3:01
10."Bonfire of the Inanities"Hank CardHank Card3:17
11."Mourning Edition" (excerpts the Morning Edition Theme by B. J. Leiderman)Hank CardHank Card3:30
Total length:40:27

Personnel

Additional Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Call, JOHN TERLESKY (A free-lance story for The Morning. "LOUNGE LIZARDS LIKE TO SATIRIZE 'SMALL MINDS'". mcall.com.
  2. 1 2 3 McDonald, Steven (1995), The Austin Lounge Lizards: Small Minds, AllMusic, retrieved November 12, 2013
  3. 1 2 Lynch, David (September 22, 2000), Music Feature, The Austin Chronicle, retrieved November 12, 2013
  4. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 306.
  5. Critic, ROGER CATLIN; Courant Rock. "LIZARDS' CLEVER LYRICS OUTDO MUSIC". courant.com.
  6. "Austin Lounge Lizards | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  7. Card, Hank (1995), "Gingrich the Newt", Small Minds, Austin, Texas: Watermelon Records