Lenses Alien
Encyclopedia
Lenses Alien is the sophomore album by the indie rock band Cymbals Eat Guitars
, released August 30, 2011 on Barsuk Records
. The album was produced by John Agnello
and received generally positive reviews.
, touring with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
in 2009 and playing at the 2010 Lollapalooza
. In addition, the band saw a change in its lineup following the release of their debut album. Dan Baer, the band's original keyboardist, left the band due to an illness, while the band's original bassist, Neil Berenholz, left due to his dislike of touring. Baer and Berenholz were replaced by Brian Hamilton and Matthew Whipple respectively. In March 2011, the band signed with Barsuk Records
to record a followup to Why There Are Mountains.
Lenses Alien was recorded in Brooklyn and took only 15 days to record. According the an interview with Stereogum
, the album's sound was influenced by Spiritualized
, Bedhead and slowcore. In July of 2011, the band premiered the first track from the album: "Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)" as a free MP3
download. On August 23, 2011, the album was streamed in its entirety on Spin
.
The album cover was originally a collage
that the band did as a homage to an artist the band admired. However, the artist was not happy with the cover, so the band changed the cover out of respect for the artist.
bands such as Superchunk
and Built to Spill
. Allmusic described the album as "darker" and "moodier" than Why There Are Mountains
. NME
noted a diverse range of genres on the album, such noise rock
, post-hardcore
and progressive rock
.
, the album has a score of 79 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."
Allmusic's Gregory Heaney praised the album's darker sound, writing "This kind of shift marks Cymbals Eat Guitars as a band that is willing to grow their sound rather than just be content to release the same album again and again, making Lenses Alien an album that’s not only a great follow-up to their first album, but a promise of good things yet to come." Mike LeChevallier of Slant Magazine
, comparing the album positively to Built to Spill
, Pavement
, and Superchunk
, wrote "All three of those bands masterfully juggle creative lyrics with equally inventive music, something Cymbals Eat Guitars comes very close to achieving on Lenses Alien." In another positive review, Drowned in Sound
's Simon Jay Catling wrote "With their nerve held, this is Cymbals Eat Guitars at an impressively high creative watermark still early in their career." Winston Robbins of Consequence of Sound
praised the album for getting over the sophomore slump
, writing "The album could have gone a bit smoother or carried a simpler, more cohesive theme, but at the end of the day, Cymbals Eat Guitars have succeeded in creating one of the year’s most surprisingly transcendental sophomore albums."
NME
's Tom Pinnock was less receptive to Lenses Alien writing "While they mainly hit a balance between shifting symphonics, subtle keys and pyroclastic guitar, sometimes – such as on 'Plainclothes', a ballad/disco/punk-funk/noise jigsaw – there’s just too much going on." However, Pinnock concluded, "But hey, layabouts, that’s called taking a risk."
Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media
, in an otherwise positive review, agreed with Pinnock's statement, writing "The downside is how the music occasionally buckles under the weight of its own restlessness and D'Agostino’s words-- a slightly skewed ratio of visceral immediacy to cerebral satisfaction making it a slight notch below Why There Are Mountains
."
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Cymbals Eat Guitars is an indie rock band from Staten Island, New York, founded by high school friends Joseph D'Agostino and Matthew Miller. The band's name comes from a Lou Reed quote describing the sound of the Velvet Underground.-History:...
, released August 30, 2011 on Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, started and still managed by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, who created the label in 1994 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawing of a dog holding a...
. The album was produced by John Agnello
John Agnello
John Agnello is a producer, recording engineer and mixer who has been involved with many albums throughout the last 25 years. Most recently, John has been involved with Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Sweet Apple, Dinosaur Jr...
and received generally positive reviews.
Background and recording
Cymbals Eat Guitars had gained much buzz following the release of their self-released debut album Why There Are MountainsWhy There Are Mountains
-Cymbals Eat Guitars:* Daniel Baer - Keyboards, Piano* Neil Berenholz - Bass* Joseph D'agostino - Guitar, Vocals, Composer* Brian Hamilton - Keyboards, Piano* Matthew Miller - Drums, Percussion-Recording personnel:...
, touring with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are an indie pop band from New York City. Their first album was a self-released EP which came out in 2007 through the Painbow label. Their debut self-titled full length album was released on February 3, 2009 via Slumberland Records. The band name comes from an...
in 2009 and playing at the 2010 Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
. In addition, the band saw a change in its lineup following the release of their debut album. Dan Baer, the band's original keyboardist, left the band due to an illness, while the band's original bassist, Neil Berenholz, left due to his dislike of touring. Baer and Berenholz were replaced by Brian Hamilton and Matthew Whipple respectively. In March 2011, the band signed with Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records
Barsuk Records is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, started and still managed by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, who created the label in 1994 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawing of a dog holding a...
to record a followup to Why There Are Mountains.
Lenses Alien was recorded in Brooklyn and took only 15 days to record. According the an interview with Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
, the album's sound was influenced by Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
, Bedhead and slowcore. In July of 2011, the band premiered the first track from the album: "Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)" as a free MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
download. On August 23, 2011, the album was streamed in its entirety on Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
.
The album cover was originally a collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
that the band did as a homage to an artist the band admired. However, the artist was not happy with the cover, so the band changed the cover out of respect for the artist.
Musical style
Many critics compared Lenses Alien to 90's indie rockIndie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
bands such as Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
and Built to Spill
Built to Spill
Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released on October 6, 2009.-History:...
. Allmusic described the album as "darker" and "moodier" than Why There Are Mountains
Why There Are Mountains
-Cymbals Eat Guitars:* Daniel Baer - Keyboards, Piano* Neil Berenholz - Bass* Joseph D'agostino - Guitar, Vocals, Composer* Brian Hamilton - Keyboards, Piano* Matthew Miller - Drums, Percussion-Recording personnel:...
. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
noted a diverse range of genres on the album, such noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
, post-hardcore
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
.
Track listing
Reception
Lenses Alien has received mostly positive reviews. On the review aggregate site MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the album has a score of 79 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."
Allmusic's Gregory Heaney praised the album's darker sound, writing "This kind of shift marks Cymbals Eat Guitars as a band that is willing to grow their sound rather than just be content to release the same album again and again, making Lenses Alien an album that’s not only a great follow-up to their first album, but a promise of good things yet to come." Mike LeChevallier of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
, comparing the album positively to Built to Spill
Built to Spill
Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released on October 6, 2009.-History:...
, Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
, and Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
, wrote "All three of those bands masterfully juggle creative lyrics with equally inventive music, something Cymbals Eat Guitars comes very close to achieving on Lenses Alien." In another positive review, Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
's Simon Jay Catling wrote "With their nerve held, this is Cymbals Eat Guitars at an impressively high creative watermark still early in their career." Winston Robbins of Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound, also known often as CoS, is a Chicago-based music website featuring news, album and concert reviews, and editorials. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook micro-site, which serves as an on-line database for music festival news and rumors...
praised the album for getting over the sophomore slump
Sophomore slump
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort...
, writing "The album could have gone a bit smoother or carried a simpler, more cohesive theme, but at the end of the day, Cymbals Eat Guitars have succeeded in creating one of the year’s most surprisingly transcendental sophomore albums."
NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
's Tom Pinnock was less receptive to Lenses Alien writing "While they mainly hit a balance between shifting symphonics, subtle keys and pyroclastic guitar, sometimes – such as on 'Plainclothes', a ballad/disco/punk-funk/noise jigsaw – there’s just too much going on." However, Pinnock concluded, "But hey, layabouts, that’s called taking a risk."
Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, in an otherwise positive review, agreed with Pinnock's statement, writing "The downside is how the music occasionally buckles under the weight of its own restlessness and D'Agostino’s words-- a slightly skewed ratio of visceral immediacy to cerebral satisfaction making it a slight notch below Why There Are Mountains
Why There Are Mountains
-Cymbals Eat Guitars:* Daniel Baer - Keyboards, Piano* Neil Berenholz - Bass* Joseph D'agostino - Guitar, Vocals, Composer* Brian Hamilton - Keyboards, Piano* Matthew Miller - Drums, Percussion-Recording personnel:...
."
Cymbals Eat Guitars
- Joseph D'Agostino - Guitar, Vocals
- Brian Hamilton - Keyboards, Vocals
- Matthew Miller - Percussion, Drums
- Matthew Whipple - Bass Guitar, Vocals, Guitar (Baritone)
Additional personnel
- Heide Vanderlee - Cello
- John Agnello - Producer, Engineer
- Greg Calbi - Mastering
- Ted Young - Engineer
- Theo Aronson - Engineer
- Jeremy Withers - Layout
External links
- Barsuk Record's page on Lenses Alien
- Track by track: Cymbals Eat Guitars - 'Lenses Aliens'. On The NJ UndergroundThe NJ UndergroundThe NJ Underground is an independently owned and operated music blog that focuses on music related news, live events and local artists and musicians in the tri-state area. Only having been around since the Summer of 2009, the website has garnered a loyal music fanbase that visit the website on a...
.