Excellent Italian Greyhound is the title of Shellac

Shellac (band)

Shellac is an American group composed of Steve Albini , Bob Weston and Todd Trainer...

's fourth album. It was released on June 5, 2007. The album's title is a reference to drummer Todd Trainer

Todd Trainer

Todd Stanford Trainer is the drummer for the band Shellac. He also performs as a solo artist under the name Brick Layer Cake. He previously played drums for the bands Breaking Circus and Rifle Sport, and he played drums with Scout Niblett in 2005....

's Italian Greyhound

Italian Greyhound

The Italian Greyhound is a small breed of dog of the sight hound type, sometimes called an "I.G.", or "Iggy" for short.-Appearance:The Italian Greyhound is the smallest of the sighthounds, typically weighing about and standing about tall at the withers...

, Uffizi. The album was recorded at Electrical Audio

Electrical Audio

Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there....

 and mastered at Abbey Road

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

 by Steve Rooke. The drawings for Excellent Italian Greyhound were created by Jay Ryan

Jay Ryan (artist)

Jay Ryan is a poster maker and rock musician. He is noted for his squirrel posters as well as being a bassist in the band Dianogah....

 from the band Dianogah

Dianogah

Dianogah is a Chicago, Illinois based indie rock outfit formed in 1995, noted for their use of two bass guitars. Members include Kip McCabe, Jay Ryan and Jason Harvey. Dianogah's first full-length album, As Seen From Above, was recorded by Steve Albini, who also produced their second full-length...

. As well as a hand screened obi sleeve surrounding the jacket, there are several pictures taken by Joel Larson. As with 1000 Hurts

1000 Hurts

1000 Hurts is the third full-length album by Shellac, released July 31, 2000 . It is Shellac Record #11. In its official promotional materials Shellac jokingly described this album as follows: "There are no 12-minute songs on this one. This record is more mean-spirited. Todd sings."The cover is a...

, the vinyl pressing of the album includes an unmarked CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 version at no extra charge (CD and LP+CD releases are similarly priced). The band encourages listeners to purchase the vinyl to hear the record as it was intended.

Voice-over king Ken Nordine

Ken Nordine

Ken Nordine is an American voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie trailers. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost...

 appears uncredited on the song "Genuine Lulabelle", as does Matt Chapman in the role of Strong Bad

Strong Bad

Strong Bad is one of the major characters of the Homestar Runner series of animated Flash web cartoons. He is portrayed by Matt Chapman, the principal voice actor and co-founder of the series. Strong Bad enjoys pranking the other characters of the series, along with his ever-diligent lackey pet...

. The introduction to "Spoke" includes a cover version of the "Rotosound Strings" radio commercial from The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

's 1967 album The Who Sell Out

The Who Sell Out

-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...

.

In the run-out groove, there is a text etching. Side One - "Pronto Prova..." Side Two - "A Isamu Sta Lapa!"

Track listing

1. "The End of Radio"
2. "Steady As She Goes"
3. "Be Prepared"
4. "Elephant"
5. "Genuine Lulabelle"
6. "Kittypants"
7. "Boycott"
8. "Paco"
9. "Spoke"

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
2007	Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...	17
2007	Top Independent Albums	45