Some Stupid with a Flare Gun

Last updated
Some Stupid with a Flare Gun
AssPonys Flare.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 11, 2000 (2000-04-11)
Genre Country rock, indie rock
Length50:06
Label Checkered Past Records
Producer Brad Jones
Ass Ponys chronology
The Known Universe
(1996)
Some Stupid with a Flare Gun
(2000)
Lohio
(2001)

Some Stupid With a Flare Gun is the fifth studio album by Cincinnati-based indie rock band Ass Ponys. It was released on April 11, 2000, on the Chicago-based indie label Checkered Past Records, and was produced by Brad Jones. [1] The album's title is taken from a line in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water." [2] The album won "CD of the Year" in 2001 at the Cammy Awards. [3]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
In Music We Trust A– [5]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
PopMatters 8/10 [7]
Spin 8/10 [8]
Village Voice A– [9]

Some Stupid with a Flare Gun received mainly positive reviews from critics, one of whom (Robert Christgau), after giving the album an A−, later ranked it #40 on his 2000 end-of-the-year Dean's List for the Pazz & Jop. [10] Another favorable review was written by Fred Mills, who wrote that Chuck Cleaver, the band's lead singer and songwriter, "gives equal weight to life’s little joys and disappointments, employing nuance and economy to great effect." He also praised what he called the band's "unerring sense of melody," calling them "as accessible as they come". [11] David Starkey of PopMatters gave the album an 8 out of 10 rating, calling it "solid" and noting that Cleaver mostly "focuses on the lives of the down-and-out" in his songs. [7]

Track listing

  1. Pretty As You Please – 4:29
  2. Astronaut – 4:23
  3. Fighter Pilot – 3:12
  4. Love Tractor – 3:36
  5. Your Amazing Life – 2:56
  6. Sidewinder – 4:39
  7. Swallow You Down – 3:55
  8. X-tra Nipple – 3:53
  9. Magnus – 4:16
  10. Casper's Coming Home – 3:35
  11. Kitten – 5:06
  12. Between The Trees – 6:06

Personnel

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References

  1. DeRogatis, Jim (12 January 2001). "Still kicking butt" . Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. Myers, Mitch (23 June 2000). "Leave It To Cleaver". MTV News . Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  3. Knippenberg, Jim (12 March 2001). "Hard-working musicians humbled, honored by local recognition". Cincinnati Enquirer . Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  4. Rabid, Jack. "Some Stupid with a Flare Gun Review". Allmusic . Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  5. Steininger, Alex (June 2000). "Ass Ponys: Some Stupid With A Flare Gun". In Music We Trust . Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  6. Harris, Keith (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Fireside Books. p. 26. ISBN   9780743201698.
  7. 1 2 Starkey, David. "Ass Ponys: Some Stupid with a Flare Gun". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  8. Christgau, Robert (June 2000). "Reviews". Spin . 16 (6): 153–4.
  9. Christgau, Robert (2 May 2000). "Alt Lives!!". Village Voice . Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  10. Christgau, Robert (1 February 2001). "Pazz & Jop 2000: Dean's List". Village Voice. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  11. Mills, Fred (July–August 2000). "Some Stupid With A Flare Gun Review". No Depression. Retrieved 16 October 2014.