Star Maps (album)

Last updated
Star Maps
Star Maps.jpg
Studio album by
Possum Dixon
ReleasedJanuary 9, 1996 [1]
RecordedSpring 1995, Los Angeles
Genre Alternative rock
Length42:25
Label Interscope
Producer Tim O'Heir [2]
Possum Dixon chronology
Possum Dixon
(1993)		Star Maps
(1996)		 New Sheets
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

Star Maps is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Possum Dixon. [5] It was released in 1996 on Interscope Records. [1]

Contents

Critical reception

Robert Levine of Trouser Press called the album a "more mature effort [that] lacks some of its predecessor’s raw energy," writing that "though the stylistic expansion is admirable, Possum Dixon can’t disguise the fact that its basic strength remains stripped-down art-punk." [6] Hobart Rowland of the Houston Press wrote that the album "tears down the Southern California myth with a finality reminiscent of L.A.-bashing works such as X's Los Angeles and the Eagles' Hotel California -- though in a context and style more akin to the tense intellect of the Velvet Underground and early Talking Heads." [7] Rick Reger of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the band "garnishes its unassuming rockers with vibes, electric piano and mellotron to generate some unfashionably fun, tuneful bashing." [8] Allison Stewart of CMJ New Music Monthly felt the album was "more of a good time than revisited new wave usually allows for", noting its "so-dark-they're-funny songs" and concluding that it was "an airless and dark, almost eerily self-contained piece that consistently undersells itself." [1]

Spin included the album on its list of "The 10 Best Albums You Didn't Hear in '96," its annual review of relatively below-the-radar releases. [9]

Track listing

All lyrics by Rob Zabrecky; all music by Zabrecky, except where noted. [10]

  1. "Go West" – 3:04
  2. "In Her Disco" – 2:43
  3. "Radio Comets" (Zabrecky, O'Sullivan, Chavez) – 4:19
  4. "Party Tonight" – 3:52
  5. "Emergency's About to End" – 2:36
  6. "General Electric" (Zabrecky, O'Sullivan) – 2:39
  7. "Crashing Your Planet" – 3:01
  8. "Personals" – 4:40
  9. "Reds" – 2:07
  10. "Skid Marks" (Zabrecky, O'Sullivan) – 2:18
  11. "Artificial Sunlight" (Zabrecky, O'Sullivan, Chavez) – 3:15
  12. "Apartment Song" (Zabrecky, O'Sullivan, Chavez) – 7:51

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes. [10]

Possum Dixon

Additional musicians

Technical

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stewart, Allison (March 22, 1996). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly . CMJ Network, Inc. – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 Graff, Gary; Durcholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. p. 888.
  3. ↑ "Star Maps - Possum Dixon | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic .
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6 (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 608. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  5. ↑ "JULIE & SHELLEY BENEFIT". The Austin Chronicle . February 16, 1996.
  6. ↑ Levine, Robert. "Possum Dixon". Trouser Press . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ Rowland, Hobart (February 15, 1996). "Static". Houston Press .
  8. ↑ Reger, Rick (August 2, 1996). "JAWBOX-ING". Chicago Tribune .
  9. ↑ "The 10 Best Albums You Didn't Hear in '96". Spin . SPIN Media LLC. January 22, 1997 – via Google Books.
  10. 1 2 Star Maps (CD liner notes). Interscope Records. 1996. 92625-2.
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