Shoegazing Kids
Encyclopedia
Shoegazing Kids is the third studio album by French indie rock
band Stuck in the Sound
. Released on 26 January 2009 through Discograph Records, the album was available as both a physical release and download in their home country of France, but exclusively as a download in a number of other countries. The songs on the album were all recorded in the same studio and the record was mixed
in New York
by producer Nick Sansano
and mastered
by Ted Jensen
. The record contains a mixture of indie rock
and shoegaze genres, and the track "Ouais" was in particular hailed for its Britpop
style. The album featured the first instrumental track to be released by the band and has been described as more ambitious and experimental than Stuck in the Sound's previous effort, Nevermind the Living Dead.
In France, the album sold over 10,000 copies in its first three months and achieved a peak position of #69 on the French albums chart
. Two singles have so far been released from the record; "Ouais" was released in December 2008 and "Shoot Shoot" was released in June 2009. The album was accompanied by a European tour and following its release the band made a number of festival
appearances. Upon its release the album received mostly positive reviews and was described by one critic as "really exciting", although it was also criticised for relying too heavily on its influences, and was branded as unpleasant by one reviewer.
by Grammy Award
winner Ted Jensen
.
, shoegazing
and pop rock
. The cover art features a girl staring at her shoes in front of a blue background, and this was designed to reflect the theme of the album. Arno Bordas described the record as having "a sort of blue-ish tone lingering... all the way through". Lead singer José Reis Fontao said that the band "staked everything on emotion on this album, on the way the songs are delivered". The opening track, "Zapruder", is an instrumental
, the first released by the band. The indie rock style of Shoegazing Kids garnered comparisons to bands such as The Pixies, The Smiths
and Nirvana
, and Fontao's vocals on the album were likened to those of Muse
frontman Matt Bellamy. Despite the band being from France, the songs on the album are entirely sung in English
, to enable the meanings of the lyrics to be more abstract.
, an LP and as a digital download
. The album was also released as a download around the world on iTunes
and other download services. Shoegazing Kids was the group's first album to place on the French albums chart, reaching a peak position of #69 on the week of its release and staying in the chart for six weeks. The album was Stuck in the Sound's biggest-selling record to date, selling over 10,000 copies in France in the first three months after its release.
Two tracks have to date been released from the album as singles
– "Ouais" was brought out on 1 December 2008, over a month before the release of the album itself, and "Shoot Shoot" was released on 29 June 2009. "Ouais" received some airplay, but both singles failed to chart. The release of the record was accompanied by a tour of Europe, which started on 23 January 2009 and included a number of dates in France and neighbouring Germany. The band also appeared at a number of music festival
s during the summer of 2009, including Francofolies
and Solidays.
". In her review, Rita Carvalho of Fluctuat praised the guitar work on "Dirty Waterfalls", comparing it to the style of The Cribs
guitarist Johnny Marr
. She also commented positively on the arpeggiation
on "Teen Tale" and "Playback A.L.". The Soundmag reviewer complimented the "exploding energy" of the two singles, and called the album a "colourful bouquet of fine tunes". Marine Bienvenot described the song "I Love You Dark" as a "pop gem", and stated that the band had succeeded in their combination of melodic power pop and rock guitars, and that this was aided by Fontao's vocals.
However, the album also received negative criticism. The reviewer from Albumrock rated the album two out of five, accusing it of sounding too similar throughout, with the songs being described as "unpleasant". In the same review, the record was likened to "a piece of frozen mutton". Another critic wrote that while none of the tracks stood out as being particularly bad, the album relied too heavily on its influences, claiming that the band needed "a dose of decadence" to distinguish them from their predecessors.
Additional personnel
Indie 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...
band Stuck in the Sound
Stuck in the Sound
Stuck in the Sound is a French indie rock band formed in Paris in 2002. The current band line up consists of José Reis Fontao , Emmanuel Barichasse , Arno Bordas and François Ernie...
. Released on 26 January 2009 through Discograph Records, the album was available as both a physical release and download in their home country of France, but exclusively as a download in a number of other countries. The songs on the album were all recorded in the same studio and the record was mixed
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by producer Nick Sansano
Nick Sansano
Nick Sansano is an American record producer, engineer, and musician. He coproduced and recorded Sonic Youth's albums Daydream Nation and Goo. He also engineered and mixed selections from Public Enemy's albums It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet and Muse...
and mastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
by Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...
. The record contains a mixture of indie rock
Indie 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...
and shoegaze genres, and the track "Ouais" was in particular hailed for its Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
style. The album featured the first instrumental track to be released by the band and has been described as more ambitious and experimental than Stuck in the Sound's previous effort, Nevermind the Living Dead.
In France, the album sold over 10,000 copies in its first three months and achieved a peak position of #69 on the French albums chart
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...
. Two singles have so far been released from the record; "Ouais" was released in December 2008 and "Shoot Shoot" was released in June 2009. The album was accompanied by a European tour and following its release the band made a number of festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
appearances. Upon its release the album received mostly positive reviews and was described by one critic as "really exciting", although it was also criticised for relying too heavily on its influences, and was branded as unpleasant by one reviewer.
Background and recording
Stuck in the Sound wrote the songs for Shoegazing Kids in their home country of France before travelling to New York in 2008 to work with American producer Nick Sansano. The band were effusive in their praise of Sansano, saying "we'd come up with an image or a colour for each track and Nick retranscribed our ideas perfectly, adding his own personal touch along the way". The band themselves felt that thanks to the fact they had worked together in one studio to produce the album, the tracks on Shoegazing Kids were more coherent than those on their previous record. Stuck in the Sound bassist Arno Bordas explained: "All the tracks were recorded in the same place, written more or less around the same period and mixed by the same person. So there's a real unity of time and place". The record was masteredAudio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
by Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...
.
Musical style
The band's first commercially released album, Nevermind the Living Dead, was—according to the band—"about showing off what we could do". Conversely, Shoegazing Kids has been described as a more subtle, ambitious and experimental record. The album contains references to a number of musical genres, including 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...
, shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
and pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
. The cover art features a girl staring at her shoes in front of a blue background, and this was designed to reflect the theme of the album. Arno Bordas described the record as having "a sort of blue-ish tone lingering... all the way through". Lead singer José Reis Fontao said that the band "staked everything on emotion on this album, on the way the songs are delivered". The opening track, "Zapruder", is an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
, the first released by the band. The indie rock style of Shoegazing Kids garnered comparisons to bands such as The Pixies, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
and Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, and Fontao's vocals on the album were likened to those of Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
frontman Matt Bellamy. Despite the band being from France, the songs on the album are entirely sung in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, to enable the meanings of the lyrics to be more abstract.
Release
The album was released on the Paris-based Discograph label on 26 January 2009. In the band's home country of France, the album was released as a compact discCompact 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 ,...
, an LP and as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
. The album was also released as a download around the world on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and other download services. Shoegazing Kids was the group's first album to place on the French albums chart, reaching a peak position of #69 on the week of its release and staying in the chart for six weeks. The album was Stuck in the Sound's biggest-selling record to date, selling over 10,000 copies in France in the first three months after its release.
Two tracks have to date been released from the album as singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
– "Ouais" was brought out on 1 December 2008, over a month before the release of the album itself, and "Shoot Shoot" was released on 29 June 2009. "Ouais" received some airplay, but both singles failed to chart. The release of the record was accompanied by a tour of Europe, which started on 23 January 2009 and included a number of dates in France and neighbouring Germany. The band also appeared at a number of music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s during the summer of 2009, including Francofolies
Francofolies
Francofolies, common name of various music festivals including:* Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada* Les Francofolies de La Rochelle, in La Rochelle, France* Les Francofolies de Spa in Spa, Belgium...
and Solidays.
Critical reception
Shoegazing Kids was generally well received by critics who praised the energy and ability of the band. In his review of the album, Iain WhiteTapes lauded Stuck in the Sound's "extreme technical skill", and called the album a "revelling journey through stories of failed relationships, fleeting romances and long nights in Paris bars". Another critic also praised the album, calling it "good pop that is for everyone, both terribly accessible and really exciting". Thomas Lhuillery of Rock'n'France applauded the record's "catchy choruses and intoxicating riffs", and hailed the track "Ouais" as "a perfect illustration of [the band's] frenzied BritpopBritpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
". In her review, Rita Carvalho of Fluctuat praised the guitar work on "Dirty Waterfalls", comparing it to the style of The Cribs
The Cribs
The Cribs are an English three-piece indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was made a formal member of the group...
guitarist Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
. She also commented positively on the arpeggiation
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
on "Teen Tale" and "Playback A.L.". The Soundmag reviewer complimented the "exploding energy" of the two singles, and called the album a "colourful bouquet of fine tunes". Marine Bienvenot described the song "I Love You Dark" as a "pop gem", and stated that the band had succeeded in their combination of melodic power pop and rock guitars, and that this was aided by Fontao's vocals.
However, the album also received negative criticism. The reviewer from Albumrock rated the album two out of five, accusing it of sounding too similar throughout, with the songs being described as "unpleasant". In the same review, the record was likened to "a piece of frozen mutton". Another critic wrote that while none of the tracks stood out as being particularly bad, the album relied too heavily on its influences, claiming that the band needed "a dose of decadence" to distinguish them from their predecessors.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Stuck in the Sound.Chart positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French album chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... (SNEP) |
69 |
Personnel
Stuck in the Sound- José Reis Fontao – lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - François Ernie – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals - Emmanuel Barichasse – electric guitar, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, keyboards - Arno Bordas – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Additional personnel
- Nick SansanoNick SansanoNick Sansano is an American record producer, engineer, and musician. He coproduced and recorded Sonic Youth's albums Daydream Nation and Goo. He also engineered and mixed selections from Public Enemy's albums It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet and Muse...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Ted JensenTed JensenTed Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...
– masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...