The Venus Trail

Last updated

The Venus Trail
The Venus Trail.jpg
Studio album by
Released1993
Label Flying Nun Records [1]
The 3Ds chronology
Beautiful Things EP
(1993)
The Venus Trail
(1993)
Caterwauling
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 7/10 [3]

The Venus Trail is an album by the New Zealand band the 3Ds, released in 1993. [4] The album was released by Merge Records in the United States. [5]

Contents

Production

The recording sessions took place at the Grand Masonic Lodge, in Dunedin, New Zealand. [6]

Critical reception

The New Zealand Herald called The Venus Trail "a more refined and accomplished album." [7] Stylus Magazine called the album's first single, "Hey Seuss", "a fantastic scuzzed-up pop song of a track built around a simple descending guitar riff, but for all the sophistication of its recording, it still sound like it was done on Chris Knox’s four track." [8] Trouser Press wrote that the album "can’t match Hellzapoppin’s amazing gusts of energy — not even with the angry, two-minute sock in the face 'Hey Seuss' — yet it attains nearly the same level of accomplishment in the expanded range of sounds." [9] Spin wrote that "beautiful melodies fight to be recognized over the twin guitar delirium." [10]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Hey Seuss" – 2:22
  2. "Philadelphia Rising" – 4:50
  3. "Cash None" – 3:08
  4. "The Golden Grove" – 2:45
  5. "The Venus Trail" – 2:12
  6. "Beautiful Things" – 3:32

Side two

  1. "Man on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" – 4:07
  2. "Jane Air" – 3:08
  3. "The Young and the Restless" - 3:18
  4. "Summer Stone" – 2:40
  5. "Ice" – 6:05
  6. "Spooky" – 4:54

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by The Guardian as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention to the Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980s Dunedin, which gave rise to modern indie rock.

The Dunedin sound was a musical and cultural movement and a genre of indie pop and alternative rock, created and pioneered in Dunedin, Otago, in the early 1980s. The Dunedin sound is considered to have been a key factor in the origination of indie rock as a genre. The scene was closely associated with Flying Nun Records, an independent label which has become one of the world's most renowned.

Sneaky Feelings are a New Zealand pop rock band which releases on the Flying Nun Records music label. The band formed in 1980 with the line-up of Matthew Bannister, David Pine, Kat Tyrie and Martin Durrant. Tyrie was replaced by John Kelcher in 1984. Durrant was temporarily replaced by Ross Burge in 1988 for the band's second tour of Europe.

Shayne P. Carter is a New Zealand musician best known for leading Straitjacket Fits from 1986 to 1994, and as the only permanent member of Dimmer (1995–2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Feelers</span>

The Feelers is a New Zealand pop rock band formed in the early 1990s in Christchurch by James Reid (singer/guitarist) and Hamish Gee (drums/guitar).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straitjacket Fits</span>

Straitjacket Fits formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1986 and were a prominent band in the Flying Nun label's second wave of the Dunedin sound.

Able Tasmans were an indie pop band from Auckland, New Zealand, initially formed as a duo in 1983. They released four albums and two EPs on Flying Nun Records before splitting up in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The 3Ds</span> New Zealand noise pop band

The 3Ds were a New Zealand noise pop band based from Dunedin, together from 1988 to 1997. They recorded three albums and several EPs, the best known of which is The Venus Trail (1993). They achieved commercial and critical success worldwide in the period between 1992 and 1995.

<i>Fall in a Hole</i> 1983 live album by The Fall

Fall in a Hole is a live album by the Fall, recorded in Auckland in August 1982 and released in December 1983 on the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.

<i>Hey Spinner!</i> 1990 studio album by Able Tasmans

Hey Spinner! is an album by New Zealand band Able Tasmans. It was released in 1990.

<i>Melt</i> (Straitjacket Fits album) 1990 studio album by Straitjacket Fits

Melt is the second album from Dunedin, New Zealand band Straitjacket Fits. It was the last to feature the original line-up of Shayne Carter, Andrew Brough, John Collie and David Wood; Brough was to leave before the third album, Blow. The album reached no. 13 on the New Zealand music charts, and sold 40,000 copies in the United States.

<i>Strange News from the Angels</i> 1996 studio album by The 3Ds

Strange News from the Angels is the third and final album by the New Zealand band the 3Ds. It was released by Flying Nun Records in 1996.

<i>Hellzapoppin</i> (album) 1992 studio album by The 3Ds

Hellzapoppin is the first full-length album by the New Zealand band the 3Ds, released in 1992.

<i>The Law of Things</i> 1990 studio album by The Bats

The Law of Things is an album by the New Zealand band The Bats, released in 1990. It was released by Mammoth Records in the United States.

The Bird Nest Roys were a New Zealand rock group, formed in the mid-1980s in the hills west of Auckland, New Zealand. They released one self-titled album on Flying Nun Records. Despite being from Auckland, they are frequently cited as one of the bands that played the Dunedin sound, named after the city of Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand.

Jane Dodd is a New Zealand musician and contemporary jeweller. From 1982 to 1984 she studied for a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Otago, majoring in Phenomenology of Religion with additional papers in Anthropology, History, Art History, Maori Language and Philosophy. She is well known for her role as a bass player in early Dunedin-based Flying Nun Records groups The Chills and The Verlaines, was a long-standing member of Auckland group Able Tasmans, and occasionally played with side-project The Lure of Shoes.

<i>A.D.M.</i> (album) 1996 studio album by Snapper

A.D.M. is the second studio album by New Zealand indie rock group Snapper, released in 1996.

<i>Plagal Grind</i> (EP) 1990 EP by Plagal Grind

Plagal Grind is a 12" EP by New Zealand band Plagal Grind, released in 1990. Containing members of This Kind of Punishment and The 3Ds, along with Alastair Galbraith, the band was considered a supergroup.

<i>The Size of Food</i> 1989 studio album by Jean-Paul Sartre Experience

The Size Of Food is an album by New Zealand band Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, released in 1989. It was released via Flying Nun Records.

<i>Future Shock</i> (EP) 1980 EP by The Gordons

Future Shock is an EP by New Zealand band The Gordons, released in 1980. In contrast to much of the independent New Zealand rock of the time, the sound of the EP was more noisy and distorted.

References

  1. "FN281 3Ds - The Venus Trail (1993)". Flying Nun.
  2. Raggett, Ned. "The 3Ds – The Venus Trail". AllMusic .
  3. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 440.
  4. "3Ds | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  5. McGibney, Matthew (22 July 2009). "Merge's sizable discography". INDY Week.
  6. "The 3Ds - AudioCulture". www.audioculture.co.nz.
  7. "Return of the oddballs". NZ Herald. 6 October 2023.
  8. "In Love With Those Times: Flying Nun and the Dunedin Sound - Article - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. "3Ds". Trouser Press. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. "Heavy Rotation". SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. 24 December 1993 via Google Books.