Worn Thin

Last updated
Worn Thin
Weep - Worn Thin cover.jpg
Studio album by
Weep
ReleasedJuly 13, 2010 (2010-07-13)
Genre Ethereal wave, gothic rock, shoegazing
Length46:33
Label Projekt (PRO00243)
Producer Doc Hammer
Weep chronology
Never Ever
(2008)		Worn Thin
(2010)		 6 Interpretations
(2010)

Worn Thin is the debut album by the New York City rock band Weep, released July 13, 2010 through Projekt Records. It includes a remix of the song "Ever Shy" from the band's 2008 debut EP Never Ever , as well as cover versions of Jesus Jones' "Right Here, Right Now" and Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive".

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually referred to as either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 19,979,477 people in its 2018 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 22,679,948 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew heavily from the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and from country music. Rock music also drew strongly from a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical styles. Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a 4/4 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political.

Weep is an American rock band from New York City whose music combines elements of ethereal wave, gothic rock, shoegaze, post-punk and synthpop. Formed in 2008 by singer and guitarist Eric "Doc" Hammer, the band's lineup also includes bass guitarist Fred Macaraeg, keyboardist Alex Dziena and drummer Bill Kovalcik. Their debut EP, Never Ever, was released in 2008 by Hammer's Astro-Base Go company and Projekt Records, followed by the full-length albums Worn Thin (2010), Alate (2012) and Weep (2014).

Contents

Background

Weep was formed in 2008 by multi-disciplinary artist Eric "Doc" Hammer, previously of the gothic rock bands Requiem in White and Mors Syphilitica, together with keyboard player Alex Dziena, bass guitarist Fred Macaraeg, and drummer Bill Kovalcik. [1] The band released their debut EP, Never Ever that year through Hammer's Astro-Base Go company, and distributed it through his former label Projekt Records. [1] [2]

Doc Hammer American musician and actor

Eric A. Hammer, known professionally as Doc Hammer, is an American musician, actor, film and television writer, voice actor and artist. He performed in the gothic rock bands Requiem in White from 1985 to 1995 and Mors Syphilitica from 1995 to 2002, both with his then-wife Lisa Hammer. His film credits include a number of Lisa's projects—released through their own production company Blessed Elysium—in which he participated as a writer, actor, composer, designer, and visual effects artist. He also composed the music for the 1997 film A, B, C... Manhattan. He and Christopher McCulloch are the co-creators, writers, and editors of the animated television series The Venture Bros. (2004–present), in which Hammer voices several recurring characters including Billy Quizboy, Henchman 21, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, and Dermott Fictel. The show is produced through Hammer and McCulloch's company Astro-Base Go. Hammer is also the singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Weep, which formed in 2008.

Gothic rock is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted towards dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.

Mors Syphilitica was a gothic rock/ethereal band formed in 1995 in New York City by Lisa Hammer and Eric Hammer after the breakup of their prior band Requiem in White. Their music combined often-surreal lyrics with unusual instruments such as mandolin and banjo, as well more conventional instruments like guitar. Lisa Hammer's operatic vocals gave Mors Syphilitica's music a distinctive powerful, sweeping quality. On record, all of the instruments were played by Eric Hammer; in concert, they were accompanied by live drummers and bass players.

For Worn Thin the band strove for a high production value to the tracks, an approach Hammer described as "almost like a reactionary antidote to what we're sick of in music. That dry, low-tech production of the past ten years is tiring. It's in its footy pajamas, and it needs to take a nap. We wanted something lush and dramatic for the songs on Worn Thin. They usually relegate that kinda over-the-top production to Lady Gaga. But believe me, it works really well with a messy little band like Weep." [3] To this end the band incorporated additional elements into the songs, including multi-part vocal harmonies and string and horn sections:

Lady Gaga American singer, songwriter, and actress

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her unconventionality, provocative work and visual experimentation. Gaga began performing as a teenager, singing at open mic nights and acting in school plays. She studied at Collaborative Arts Project 21, through New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, before dropping out to pursue a music career. When Def Jam Recordings canceled her contract, she worked as a songwriter for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where Akon helped her sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own label KonLive Distribution in 2007. She rose to prominence the following year with her debut album, the electropop record The Fame, and its chart-topping singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". A follow-up EP, The Fame Monster (2009), featuring the singles "Bad Romance", "Telephone" and "Alejandro", was also successful.

It was fun pushing these songs to a place that most bands would feel goofy pushing them to. The vocals have three- and even four-part harmonies, which for a guy with my brass pipes, is no small feat. And we have string and horn sections that push the material right over the cliff. But at the same time, when we approached the guitar-heavy songs, we backed off all the bells and cranked up the amps. I guess we just took each song on its own and did everything in our power to present it the way we heard it in our heads. [3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]
RevoltStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Critical reaction to Worn Thin was generally positive. Ned Raggett of Allmusic drew comparisons to post-punk, new wave, gothic rock, shoegazing, and indie rock acts including Echo & the Bunnymen, Kitchens of Distinction, Interpol, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, calling it "one of those efforts that draws on bands more adopted by [gothic rock] fans rather than necessarily being that way in the first place." [4] He remarked that Hammer's "dry, demi-robot-like vocals ease the kick of the songs, a calm passion that suggests changing moods without acting them out to the full." [4] He criticized a "relative sameness" of the songs that caused them to blend together, but complemented the band's cover version of "Shut Up and Drive" as "a revelation, turning the machine pop of one style into another with ease." [4] Michael Toland of The Big Takeover detected influences of The Psychedelic Furs, New Order, The Cure, The Comsat Angels, and Cocteau Twins in the album, saying that "it sounds like Hammer created this record under the influence of several hours of 120 Minutes , circa the mid-'80s." [6] He noted, however, that "this is no nostalgia trip. Ringing guitars, lush synth beds and soaring melodies evoke a certain era, but Hammer's husky croon – barely above a mutter – subdues any note of melodrama." [6]

Post-punk is a broad type of rock music that emerged from the punk movement of the 1970s, in which artists departed from the simplicity and traditionalism of punk rock to adopt a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and diverse influences. Inspired by punk's energy and DIY ethic but determined to break from rock cliches, artists experimented with sources including electronic music and black styles like dub, funk, and disco; novel recording and production techniques; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory, modernist art, cinema and literature. These communities produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines.

New wave is a genre encompassing numerous pop-oriented music styles popular in the late 1970s and the 1980s with ties to mid-1970s punk rock. New wave moved away from traditional blues and rock and roll sounds to create pop and rock music that incorporated disco, mod, and electronic music. Initially new wave was similar to punk rock, before becoming a distinct genre. It engendered subgenres and fusions, including synth-pop.

Shoegazing is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It is characterized by its ethereal-sounding mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. The term shoegazing was coined by the British music press to describe the stage presence of a wave of neo-psychedelic groups who stood still during live performances in a detached, introspective, non-confrontational state with their heads down. This was because the heavy use of effects pedals meant the performers were often looking down at the readouts on their effects pedals during concerts.

Less Lee Moore of Popshifter complemented the instrumentation on Worn Thin, particularly the synthesizer melodies which he found very effective in evoking subtle emotions. [7] He also praised Hammer's singing, saying that "One might think that in the midst of all this lush, exquisite beauty, Doc Hammer's gravelly, robotic voice might seem anachronistic, but the contrapuntal effect is actually quite perfect. His singing is higher in the mix than it was on Never Ever and the songs are better for it." [7] He summarized the album as "compelling proof that Weep is not some group of hipster New Wave wannabes, but a band that deserves your attention." [7] Greg Heaney of the online magazine Revolt gave Worn Thin four stars out of five, remarking that "The songs have a lushness to them that makes the album deceptively easy to get lost in", and calling it "an incredibly rich and warm listening experience". [5] Noting Hammer's roots in Dark Wave music, he commented that "With layered, wistful vocals and spacey synthesizers, Weep pays tribute to the bands that have helped to shape the genre while delivering an experience that is uniquely theirs." [5] Chris Dahlberg of Cosmos Gaming identified elements of Dark Wave music in Worn Thin and remarked that the interplay of keyboard and guitar melodies added texture to the album. [8] He described Hammer's singing voice as "smooth and relaxing [...] a perfect fit for Weep's dreamy instrumental arrangements. While he doesn’t vary his pitch as much as he does in his voice acting, the style that he does use is very strong". [8]

An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magazine Datamation. Some online magazines distributed through the World Wide Web call themselves webzines. An ezine is a more specialized term appropriately used for small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by electronic mail. Some social groups may use the terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as "electronic magazines" or "e-magazines" to reflect their readership demographics or to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Doc Hammer, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Snow Scenery"4:01
2."Let Me"4:01
3."When I'm Wrong"4:34
4."A Reminder"3:46
5."The Time I Thought That"3:46
6."Over Now"4:05
7."Calm Down"3:52
8."Ever Shy" (Nov. mix)4:05
9."Worn Thin"3:25
10."Interlude"3:59
11."Right Here, Right Now" (written by Mike Edwards and originally performed by Jesus Jones)3:24
12."Shut Up and Drive" (written by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers and originally performed by Rihanna; contains an interpretation of "Blue Monday", written by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Gillian Gilbert and originally performed by New Order)3:35
Total length:46:33

Personnel

[9]

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References

  1. 1 2 Heaney, Gregory. "Weep Biography". Allmusic . Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  2. ↑ "Weep: Never Ever". Projekt Records . Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  3. 1 2 "Weep: Worn Thin". Projekt Records . Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Raggett, Ned. "Review: Worn Thin". Allmusic . Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  5. 1 2 3 Heaney, Greg (2010-10-14). "Review: Weep – Worn Thin". Revolt. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  6. 1 2 Toland, Michael (2010-08-18). "Review: Weep – Worn Thin". The Big Takeover . Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  7. 1 2 3 Moore, Less Lee (2010-10-19). "Review: Weep, Worn Thin". Popshifter. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  8. 1 2 Dahlberg, Chris (2010-09-06). "Review: Weep – Worn Thin". Cosmos Gaming. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  9. ↑ Worn Thin (CD notes). Weep. New York City: Projekt Records. 2010. PRO243.CS1 maint: others (link)
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