You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter

Last updated
You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter
You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 7, 2008 (2008-10-07)
StudioEarth Sound Recording, Valdosta, Georgia [1]
Genre Screamo, post-hardcore, electronicore, metalcore
Length35:05
Label Epitaph [2]
Producer
I Set My Friends on Fire chronology
I Set My Friends On Fire EP
(2008)
You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter
(2008)
Astral Rejection
(2011)
Singles from You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter
  1. "Crank That"
    Released: August 26, 2008
  2. "Things That Rhyme With Orange"
    Released: July 22, 2009

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter is the debut full-length studio album by American experimental rock band I Set My Friends on Fire, released on October 7, 2008 via Epitaph Records. It includes the band's most famous song, "Things That Rhyme With Orange", a promotional video for which was released July 22, 2009. [3] Four of the album's tracks are re-released songs from the band's self-released EP I Set My Friends On Fire EP. The album reached #29 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. [4]

Contents

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Matt Mehana, except where noted; all music is composed by Nabil Moo, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sh!t It Talks... I'm Out of Here" 1:03
2."Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" 1:37
3."Beauty Is in the Eyes of the Beerholder" 2:26
4."Things That Rhyme with Orange" 3:24
5."ASL" 2:42
6."Interlude" 1:52
7."Ravenous, Ravenous Rhinos" 2:42
8."HxC 2-Step" 3:18
9."WTFWJD" 3:08
10."Crank That" (Soulja Boy cover) DeAndre Way 3:02
11."But the Nuns Are Watching" 3:26
12."Reese's Pieces, I Don't Know Who John Cleese Is?" 6:26
Total length:35:05

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Alternative Press Star half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
ChartAttack Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Montreal Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Punk NewsStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Slant Magazine Star half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter was panned by most music critics. The album received a 0.5 rating out of five from Slant reviewer Nate Adams, who said "[It's] high in the running for worst album of the year ... The music aims for brutality and melody, but misses the mark entirely on both counts." [9] Alternative Press reviewer Phil Freeman also gave the album a half star out of five, remarking that the album "truly fails because it has exactly zero memorable moments". [10]

In a mixed review, John Lucas of the Georgia Straight said that the album "seems designed to test the listener’s tolerance", but that "those willing to embrace a noisy, ambitious, self-indulgent, and downright weird record will find a lot to love". [11] Logan Broger of ChartAttack gave it three stars out of five, saying, "When the grind-electro-hardcore-pop duo aren't being obnoxious or comedic, there are some tunes that are actually really, really brilliant." [6] Also giving it a three out of five, Sputnikmusic reviewer Brent Stephenson said, "The album is really just meant to be as obscenely ridiculous as it possibly can, and in that regard it is quite successful." [12]

Personnel

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter album personnel as listed on Allmusic. [13]

I Set My Friends On Fire
Additional musicians
Production

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References

  1. "I Set My Friends on Fire - You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter". AllMusic . Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "I Set My Friends on Fire - You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter". 7 October 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2020 via Punknews.org.
  3. "Post by the band on MySpace".
  4. "Top Heatseekers, Week of 10/25/08". Billboard .
  5. Alternative Press review [ dead link ]
  6. 1 2 Broger, Logan (October 7, 2008). "You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter review". ChartAttack. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  7. Montreal Mirror review
  8. Slant Magazine review
  9. Adams, Nate (2008-09-29). "I Set My Friends on Fire – You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Logs". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  10. Phil Freeman, Review of You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter. Alternative Press , November 2008, p. 158.
  11. "I Set My Friends on Fire tests one's tolerance on You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter". Straight.com. 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  12. Stephenson, Brent (2008-10-10). "You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter review". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  13. "You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter - I Set My Friends on Fire". AllMusic. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2012-03-16.