| Sweet Homewrecker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 11, 1997 | |||
| Studio | Easley Recording, Memphis, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, indie rock | |||
| Length | 47:24 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer | Doug Easley | |||
| Thrush Hermit chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sweet Homewrecker | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Sweet Homewrecker is the first full-length album by Canadian rock band Thrush Hermit. It was released on Elektra Records in 1997.
Following several independent EPs, Thrush Hermit signed to Elektra Records in 1996. They drove to Memphis, Tennessee to record Sweet Homewrecker at Easley Studio with Doug Easley. Bassist Ian McGettigan remembered in a 2019 interview that, "It was a pretty scrappy neighbourhood. We would go to the big Kroegers grocery store down the street to get microwave burritos. There were no white people in this area at all." [2]
Due to a lack of interest from Elektra, there was initially no video to support the album. [3] The band eventually decided to make a video themselves for the song "On the Sneak", which aired on Canadian channel MuchMusic in late 1997. [4] The video features McGettigan on lead vocals. While McGettigan and guitarists Joel Plaskett and Rob Benvie handled vocal duties in the band, Plaskett remarked in 2019 that, "There was definitely a push from the label side to spin me as the lead singer. I’m not saying that it wasn’t implied by some people, but Rob was the most prolific person in the band." [2] McGettigan reflected in the same interview, "It just made more sense. When you’re putting $400,000 US into a record, you need to make a star. And I’m sure the record label was thinking, “We’ve got this cute tall guy…” I'm sure they just thought, “How are we gonna sell this record in Des Moines?” You have to make it easy for them." [2]
By the time Thrush Hermit started recording their next album Clayton Park in May 1998, they had already departed Elektra. Plaskett claimed, "It became pretty apparent, pretty quickly after Sweet Homewrecker came out that we weren’t a priority. The album wasn’t even that well received in Canada." [5] McGettigan said, " Third Eye Blind and Sweet Homewrecker came down the pipeline basically at the same time. I’m sure it was like, “Well this I can fucking sell! And this? I don’t know what to do with!”. [5]
In his 1997 review, CMJ's Franklin Bruno claimed that the band had "a frustrating mix of good ideas, modest guitar-band values and not-quite-there songwriting and execution." He also observed an "appealingly loose-limbed, live in-the-studio approach, with little interest in studio trickery." Bruno concluded his review by saying, "Like a talented ballplayer with an inconsistent rookie season, Sweet Homewrecker is worthy of attention more for its promise than its objective values." [6] Melissa Andrew of In Music We Trust called it "an album filled with sharp poppy tracks that are the trademark sound of so many other great Canadian Bands" and "one of the best to come out of Canada's East Coast in years." [7]
AllMusic's Gina Boldman gave the album four-out-of-five-stars. She wrote, "Thrush Hermit don't completely fit in the hard rock or post-grunge category -- they've got a punk attitude to their sound, especially on Rob Benvie's tracks -- and on Sweet Homewrecker, their confusion is evident. Their lyrics are sometimes awkward, sometimes quite clever; songs range from pop-rock to heavy guitar-based rock. The single "North Dakota" was probably considered too "heavy" for most U.S. alternative stations in 1997 (though it did well in Canada); nonetheless." [1]
Adios is the tenth studio album released by German industrial band KMFDM. The album was originally conceived as the group's parting shot to its longtime record label, Wax Trax! Records, but it ended up also signaling the break-up of KMFDM itself until the band reformed in 2002. Recorded in Seattle, Washington, this was the last album to feature En Esch and Günter Schulz, who both went on to form Slick Idiot. Following the break-up, founding member Sascha Konietzko created the band MDFMK, before reforming KMFDM in 2002 without Esch or Schulz.
Kick Out the Jams is the debut album by American rock band MC5. It was released in February 1969, through Elektra Records. It was recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom over two nights, Devil's Night and Halloween, 1968.
Rob Benvie is a Canadian musician and writer who has performed with alternative rock acts Thrush Hermit, Bankruptcy, Camouflage Nights, and The Dears. He also records and occasionally performs live as Tigre Benvie.
The Super Friendz are a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They were initially active between 1994 and 1997, before reforming in 2003.
Thrush Hermit was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s, known for their "highly energetic, humorous, and unpredictable performances," as quoted by Vice News.
William Joel MacDonald Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop.
Camouflage Nights is a Canadian electronic rock band from Toronto fronted by Rob Benvie and Ian McGettigan.
The Meligrove Band is a Canadian indie rock band, based in Toronto, and consisting of Jason Nunes on vocals, guitar and piano, Darcy Rego on vocals and drums, Brian O'Reilly on guitar and synthesizer, and Michael Small on bass guitar.
The Fool Circle is the twelfth studio album by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in February 1981. "Cocaine" was a live cover of the song written by J. J. Cale and recorded in 1977 by Eric Clapton. There are remastered editions of the album with different sets of bonus tracks.
Clayton Park is the second full-length album by Canadian rock band Thrush Hermit. It was released on Sonic Unyon in 1999, and is the last album they released as a band. The album produced two singles and videos for the songs "From the Back of the Film" and "The Day We Hit the Coast".
La De Da is the second solo album by Joel Plaskett, released in 2005, following two albums released under the band name Joel Plaskett Emergency. The 2006 release also includes the three-song EP Make a Little Noise, by Joel Plaskett Emergency which was also released as a bonus CD with the Make a Little Noise DVD.
Truthfully Truthfully is the second album by artist Joel Plaskett under the band name Joel Plaskett Emergency and his third since splitting from Thrush Hermit.
Down at the Khyber is the first album that Joel Plaskett recorded with his backing band The Emergency. The title was influenced by the many days and nights spent playing and recording at The Khyber.
The Dudes were a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1996 in Calgary, Alberta.
Ashtray Rock is an album by Canadian indie rock band Joel Plaskett Emergency, released on April 17, 2007.
Little Jabs is the second full-length studio album by Canadian indie rock band Two Hours Traffic, released on Bumstead Records on July 24, 2007. The album was produced by Joel Plaskett, and recorded in Halifax and Toronto.
Full Blown Possession is the fifth and last full-length album by Memphis indie rock band The Grifters, released in 1997.
Ian McGettigan is a Canadian rock musician and producer. He was the bassist and a singer and songwriter for Thrush Hermit.
The Flashing Lights were a Canadian alternative rock band, active in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The Park Avenue Sobriety Test is an album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett, released March 17, 2015 on Pheromone Recordings.
