Workshy | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1993, London | |||
Genre | Alternative | |||
Label | Elemental | |||
Producer | Dare Mason | |||
Animals That Swim chronology | ||||
|
Workshy is the debut full-length album by British alternative rock band Animals That Swim, released on Elemental Records in the UK in 1994 and on big PoP Records in the US in 1996. [1] [2] The NME placed Workshy at number 15 in its year-end list of the Top 50 Albums of 1994. [3]
Workshy was recorded for "around £3,000" in a studio in Fulham, southwest London, with recording sessions lasting about 17 days. [4] The album was produced by Dare Mason, a producer/engineer/mixer and multi-instrumentalist whose credits also include Placebo (band), Boy George, Cinerama, The Church (band) and Marty Willson-Piper (with whom Mason currently records as Noctorum (band)). [5] [6] Animals That Swim and Mason were friends, as Mason was the ex-husband of bandmember Hank Starrs' wife. [7] The band had first recorded with Mason in 1992: While working on a recording project at Townhouse 3, a state-of-the-art studio that was part of Townhouse Studios in London, Mason had let the band sneak in one weekend to record their first single “King Beer”. [8] A different, re-recorded version of this song appears on Workshy because the original master tapes for the single version were lost when the factory that pressed the vinyl copies of the single closed down. [9]
The band signed a recording deal with the Elemental label to make Workshy, their first full-length release, following two singles (“King Beer”, “Roy”) on their own Beachheads In Space label and a 10” EP (“50 Dresses”) for the short-lived Che Records label. Lead vocals on the album are shared by brothers Hank Starrs and Hugh Barker.
The album received largely positive critical reviews upon its release and remains a cult favorite today. The New Musical Express (NME) placed Workshy at number 15 in its Top 50 Albums of 1994, landing it above albums by Jeff Buckley, Pulp, Primal Scream, Pearl Jam, Beck and Morrissey. [10] In a 5-star review in Record Collector magazine upon its reissue, Tim Peacock wrote, “Divorced from the hubris of the times, Workshy has grown in stature.” Danny Eccleston, writing for Mojo (magazine) , described the music on Workshy as “literate, trumpet-assisted indie-pop for the left brain" and "shaggy-dog songs that concerned fleeting alco-epiphanies and dying pensioners." He added, "When Starrs wrote a love song ('Madame Yevonde'), it would be to an obscure photography pioneer of the 20s and 30s.” [11] Allmusic noted the album's “individuality in a rock world that had gone Nirvana-mad on one hand and incipiently Britpop on the other.” [12]
Workshy was remastered and reissued on limited edition deluxe vinyl in 2016 and deluxe CD in 2017, both via Elemental/One Little Indian. These versions contain nine bonus tracks, two of which are rare, albeit previously-released, b-sides, while the other seven are demos for songs that were never previously released. Most of these, according to the liner notes, were recorded in between the band's second album ( I Was the King, I Really Was the King ) and third (and final) album (Happiness From a Distant Star).
Region | Date | Format | Label | Catalogue No. |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | 1994 | LP CD | Elemental Records | ELM24 ELM24CD |
US | 1996 | CD | big PoP Ltd | bP 0510-2 |
UK | 2016 | LP | Elemental Records/One Little Indian | ELM24LTD |
UK | 2017 | CD | Elemental Records/One Little Indian | ELM24CDLTD |
Alice in Chains is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne Staley. Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993. William DuVall joined the band in 2006 as co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, replacing Staley, who died in 2002. The band took its name from Staley's previous group, the glam metal band Alice N' Chains.
Animals is the tenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 23 January 1977 through Harvest and Columbia Records. It was recorded at the band's Britannia Row Studios in London throughout 1976, and was produced by the band. The album continues the longform compositions that made up their previous works, including Wish You Were Here (1975). The album received positive reviews from critics and was commercially successful, reaching No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in the US.
Traffic were an English rock band, formed in Birmingham, in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards, like the Mellotron and harpsichord, sitar, and various reed instruments, and by incorporating jazz and improvisational techniques in their music.
Goldfinger is an American punk rock and ska punk band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. In their early years the band was considered a contributor to the movement of third-wave ska, a mid-1990s revitalization in the popularity of ska. However, the releases of Open Your Eyes and Disconnection Notice saw the band shed most of the ska influence, and they have been more commonly placed in the punk rock genre in later years.
Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, southern rock, blues rock, folk, surf and Tulsa Sound.
Lazer Guided Melodies is the debut studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized. The album was recorded by the inaugural line up of the band, consisting of Jason Pierce, Mark Refoy (guitars), Will Carruthers (bass), Jonny Mattock (drums) and Kate Radley (keyboards) from 1990 to 1991, and mixed by Pierce in London in January 1992. The album was first released on Dedicated Records in March 1992, on cassette, Compact Disc and Vinyl.
Metamatic is the debut solo album by John Foxx, released in 1980. It was his first solo project following his split with Ultravox the previous year. A departure from the mix of synthesizers and conventional rock instrumentation on that band's work, Metamatic was purely electronic in sound. The name 'Metamatic' comes from a painting machine by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, first exhibited at the Paris Biennial in 1959. The album peaked at #18 on the UK Albums Chart.
Animals That Swim are a musical group who formed in London, England, 1989, with a line-up of stand-up drums, piano, trumpet and "a nifty line in clever narrative lyrics". In March 2011 they recorded two new songs for online release, originally intended as the first tracks from an as yet untitled album.
154 is the third album by the English post-punk band Wire, released in 1979 on EMI imprint Harvest Records in the UK and Europe and Warner Bros. Records in America.
"Don't Pass Me By" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. A country rock song, it was the first solo composition written by drummer Ringo Starr.
Crime was an early American punk band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band was formed in 1976 by Johnny Strike, Frankie Fix, Ron "The Ripper" Greco, and Ricky Tractor (drums). Their debut, the self-financed double A-side, "Hot Wire My Heart" and "Baby You're So Repulsive", appeared at the end of 1976, and is the first single released by a U.S. punk act from the West Coast.
Rock Bottom is the second solo album by former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt. It was released on 26 July 1974 by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason, and was recorded following a 1973 accident which left Wyatt a paraplegic. He enlisted musicians including Ivor Cutler, Hugh Hopper, Richard Sinclair, Laurie Allan, Mike Oldfield and Fred Frith in the recording.
Alan Clayson is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as Record Collector, Mojo and Folk Roots, he subsequently established himself as a prolific writer of music biographies. Among his many books are Backbeat, which details the Beatles' early career in Germany, Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker?, and biographies of Jacques Brel, the Yardbirds, Serge Gainsbourg and Edgard Varèse. Clayson has also contributed to The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent and Rock 'n' Reel.
"Fade into You" is a song by American alternative rock band Mazzy Star from their second studio album, So Tonight That I Might See (1993). The song was written by lyricist Hope Sandoval and composer David Roback, who also served as producer. The song reached number three on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1994 and is Mazzy Star's only single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 44. The song also charted at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart and number three in Iceland.
Goya Dress was a Scottish alternative rock band, founded by singer/keyboardist/guitarist Astrid Williamson, bass player Terry de Castro and drummer Simon Pearson. Their first EP Bedroom Cinema was released in 1995. Next release was also EP called Ruby and in 1996, the band released their first full-length album Rooms. It was produced by Welsh musician and former The Velvet Underground member John Cale. The group disbanded shortly after the album was released. After the band broke up, Williamson had a successful solo career. De Castro and Pearson subsequently played with Cinerama and The Wedding Present. De Castro also had a spell with Animals That Swim and released a solo album, A Casa Verde, in 2009.
The discography of the Animals, an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, contains 20 studio albums, six compilation albums, five EPs and 25 singles. Featuring a gritty, bluesy sound and a deep-voiced frontman in Eric Burdon, they are best known for their rendition of an American folk song named "House of the Rising Sun", which is described by many as their signature song. This single had worldwide sales of nearly 5 million and became a Number One hit in both the UK and US in 1964. Overall, the group balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life" against rhythm and blues–oriented album material. The Animals released separate UK and US albums, a practice common to other British Invasion bands of the time such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
I Was the King, I Really Was the King is the second album by British alternative rock band Animals That Swim, released in June 1996 via Elemental Records. Its title is taken from a line in the book This is Orson Welles.
The discography of American alternative rock band Mazzy Star consists of four studio albums, two EPs, twelve singles and eight music videos. The band was formed in 1989 by vocalist Hope Sandoval and guitarist David Roback, after the disbandment of Roback's previous band with vocalist Kendra Smith, Opal. Mazzy Star's debut studio album, She Hangs Brightly, was released by Rough Trade Records in 1990, and eventually spawned two singles: "Blue Flower" in 1990 and "Halah" in 1995.
Are U Satisfied is the third studio album by New Zealand born, Australian musician, Jon Stevens. It was released in October 1993. It was preceded by the lead single "Going Down", which peaked at number 39 on the ARIA singles chart. The album is described by Music Theatre Australia as having "an infectious raw rock spirit."
Faded Glamour: The Best of Animals That Swim is a 2004 compilation best-of album by British alternative rock band Animals That Swim, released in 2004 via Snowstorm.