Blender is the third studio album released by American alternative pop band The Murmurs; it was released in 1998 on MCA

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

. The album was produced by Larry Klein

Larry Klein

Larry Klein is a music producer, songwriter and bass guitar player, commonly known for being the frequent musical collaborator, and ex-husband, of Joni Mitchell....

, k.d. lang

K.D. Lang

Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...

 and Matthew Wilder

Matthew Wilder

Matthew Wilder is an American musician, composer and record producer, best known for his 1983 Top 5 hit, "Break My Stride"....

. Blender includes some re-recorded tracks from their second album Pristine Smut

Pristine Smut

Pristine Smut is the second studio album released by American alternative pop band The Murmurs; it was released in 1997 on MCA. The album was produced by Larry Klein and k.d. lang and all tracks on the album were written by The Murmurs members Heather Grody and Leisha Hailey...

, and three new songs. All of the tracks were written by band members Leisha Hailey

Leisha Hailey

Leisha Hailey is an American actress and musician most widely known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the Showtime Networks production The L Word...

 and Heather Grody. One, "Smash", was co-written with members of rock band The Go-Go's

The Go-Go's

The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....

, Jane Wiedlin

Jane Wiedlin

Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the all-female New Wave band The Go-Go's.-Early life:...

 and Charlotte Caffey

Charlotte Caffey

Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American rock and roll guitarist and songwriter, best known for her work in the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat."...

.

Reception

In a review for Allmusic, Alex Henderson gave Blender a star rating of four out of five, calling it "power-pop heaven". Henderson compared the sound of the album to that The Go-Go's and praised "Underdog", "Sucker Upper" and "La Di Da" in particular as "first-class ... fun, melodic offerings". Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 gave the album an B- rating and compared it negatively to its predecessor, Pristine Smut

Pristine Smut

Pristine Smut is the second studio album released by American alternative pop band The Murmurs; it was released in 1997 on MCA. The album was produced by Larry Klein and k.d. lang and all tracks on the album were written by The Murmurs members Heather Grody and Leisha Hailey...

. He criticized the band's "pusillanimity", and said "they were cuter with slime on their pudenda".

Track listing

• "La Di Da" — 2:57
• "I'm a Mess" — 3:13
• "Big Talker" — 2:58
• "Misfit" — 4:03
• "Smash" — 2:35
• "Genius" — 3:42
• "Don't Lie" — 2:56
• "Underdog" — 2:56
• "Sucker Upper" — 3:00
• "Country Song" — 2:28
• "About Nothin'" — 2:49

Personnel

Music

• Gregg Arreguin — guitar
• Teddy Borowiecki — keyboards
• Heather Grody — composer
• Leisha Hailey
  Leisha Hailey
  Leisha Hailey is an American actress and musician most widely known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the Showtime Networks production The L Word...
  
   — composer
• Larry Klein
  Larry Klein
  Larry Klein is a music producer, songwriter and bass guitar player, commonly known for being the frequent musical collaborator, and ex-husband, of Joni Mitchell....
  
   — bass
• Abe Laboriel, Jr. — drums
• Greg Leisz
  Greg Leisz
  Greg Leisz is an American multi-instrumentalist, playing lap and pedal steel guitars, guitar, mandolin, and bass.- Biography :Leisz was influenced early on by the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, especially pedal steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow...
  
   — mandolin, pedal steel
• Jerry Marotta
  Jerry Marotta
  Jerry Marotta is a drummer currently residing in Woodstock, New York. He is the brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a well-known drummer and composer....
  
   — drums, Native American drums
• Ben Mink — guitar
• The Murmurs — ensemble, guitar, vocals
• Sheri Ozeki — bass
• Sherri Solinger — drums
• Matthew Wilder
  Matthew Wilder
  Matthew Wilder is an American musician, composer and record producer, best known for his 1983 Top 5 hit, "Break My Stride"....
  
   — harmonium, keyboards, Hammond organ
  Hammond organ
  The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
  
  , synthesizer

Production

• Phil Kaffel — engineer, mixing
• Larry Klein — producer
• k.d. lang
  K.D. Lang
  Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
  
   — producer
• Tony Phillips — engineer, mixing
• Marc Ramaer — engineer
• Skip Saylor — engineer, mixing
• Eddy Schreyer — mastering
• Matthew Wilder — producer, programming

Design

• Christy Bush — photography
• Danny Flynn — stylist
• Kenny J. Gravillis — art direction, design
• Russell A. Robinson — design