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Emits Showers of Sparks

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Emits Showers of Sparks
Studio album by
Sixteen Deluxe
Released1998
StudioHyde Street
GenrePsychedelic pop[1]
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerJohn Croslin
Sixteen Deluxe chronology
Pilot Knob
(1997) 		Emits Showers of Sparks
(1998) 		Easy with the Sideways
(1997)

Emits Showers of Sparks is the second album by the American band Sixteen Deluxe, released in 1998.[1][2] The first single was "Purple".[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour that included film projection and a liquid light component.[4][5] The album was delayed several months, and Warner Bros. Records eventually dropped the band, in part due to Sixteen Deluxe's reluctance to keep touring.[6][7]

Production

[edit]

Recorded at Hyde Street Studios, in San Francisco, the album was produced by John Croslin.[8][9] Most of the songs were written on acoustic guitar.[10] Unlike on their debut album, Sixteen Deluxe were less concerned about burying their pop songs under effects and distortion.[8] "Large Animal Clinic" uses Carrie Clark's lead vocal backed by her vocal harmonies.[11]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionB+[13]
Austin American-Statesman[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[14]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram[15]
Knoxville News Sentinel[11]
Lincoln Journal Star[16]
Los Angeles Daily News[17]
USA Today[18]

The Salt Lake Tribune noted that "the formula isn't new, a hard-edged guitar attack with pop melodies, laced with psychedelic effects."[19] The San Diego Union-Tribune said that "the most successful efforts here, 'Let It Go' and 'Captain Kirk's Z-Man House of Fun/Mixed Up', are bluesy, melodic and multilayered gems that culminate in slick psychedelic guitar noise."[20] Entertainment Weekly opined that "Sixteen Deluxe offers a witty pastiche of clean-cut '80s pop layered with up-to-the-second guitar-and-electronica distortion."[14] USA Today labeled Emits Showers of Sparks "warm classic pop made rugged by guitar fuzz, electronic static and ... barbed harmonies."[18]

The Lincoln Journal Star stated that, "through the entrancing, softly cool vocals of Carrie Clark and a gruffer variety from Chris Smith, Sixteen Deluxe mixes quality melodies with lots of noise, primarily from guitars, but gets extra depth from percussion and organ."[16] The Los Angeles Daily News determined that the band "create little dark musical corners in even the seemingly cheeriest places."[17] CMJ New Music Monthly concluded that the album "brings on uneasy relief by inducing alternating states of feverish anxiety and narcoleptic bliss."[21] The Knoxville News Sentinel noted that, while "Clark sprints over the blustery tracks with lithe melody, occasional lead vocalist Chris Smith is a weak and flavorless liability."[11]

AllMusic wrote that the "lyrics are more prominent throughout ... no matter who is singing them, at times perhaps embracing a Generation X aesthetic a touch too closely."[12] In 2009, Spin included Sixteen Deluxe on its list of "The 100 Greatest Bands You've (Probably) Never Heard", deeming Emits Showers of Sparks one of "the 1990s' most pleasurably squalling albums."[22]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Sniffy Woe" 
2."Purple" 
3."Burning Leaves" 
4."Let It Go" 
5."No Shock (In Bubble)" 
6."Giver" 
7."Large Animal Clinic" 
8."Lullaby" 
9."Wrist Rocket" 
10."Mexican Train" 
11."Honey" 
12."Captain Kirk's Z-Man House of Fun" 
13."Mixed Up" 

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Mayhew, Malcolm (9 Jan 1998). "Sixteen Deluxe: Moving up, moving out". Star Time. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 13.
  2. ^ Reece, Doug (Jan 24, 1998). "Roadwork". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 4. p. 28.
  3. ^ a b Riemenschneider, Chris (Jan 13, 1998). "Sixteen Deluxe: more pop, less punk". Austin American-Statesman. pp. E1, E3.
  4. ^ Woodlief, Mark (27 Feb 1998). "Squeezing Out 'Sparks'". Orange County Register. p. F43.
  5. ^ Lambert, Yon (Jul 3, 1998). "Sixteen Deluxe takes space rock out of blue into black". Weekend. The State. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Oh, Delays". XL Ent. Austin American-Statesman. Aug 28, 1997. p. 17.
  7. ^ Beets, Greg; Whymark, Richard (2023). A Curious Mix of People: The Underground Scene of '90s Austin. University of Texas Press. p. 244.
  8. ^ a b Crain, Zac (January 22, 1998). "Believe the hype". Music. Dallas Observer.
  9. ^ Koster, Rick (2000). Texas Music. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 141.
  10. ^ Stegall, Tim (Mar 1998). "Sixteen Deluxe: TV Party Tonight". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 55. p. 7.
  11. ^ a b c Campbell, Chuck (6 Feb 1998). "'Emits Showers of Sparks', Sixteen Deluxe". Knoxville News Sentinel. p. T8.
  12. ^ a b "Emits Showers of Sparks Review by Ned Raggett". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Rock". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 12 Feb 1998. p. G4.
  14. ^ a b Bautz, Mark (January 30, 1998). "Emits Showers of Sparks". Entertainment Weekly. No. 416. p. 64.
  15. ^ Mayhew, Malcolm (Jan 16, 1998). "Ignite carefully, enjoy fully". Star Time. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 14.
  16. ^ a b Wolgamott, L. Kent (1 Feb 1998). "The real psychedelia: Sixteen Deluxe creates 'Sparks' on new release". Lincoln Journal Star. p. H4.
  17. ^ a b Shuster, Fred (6 Feb 1998). "Sound Check". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L23.
  18. ^ a b Gundersen, Edna (10 Feb 1998). "Sixteen Deluxe sparkles; new 'Respect' for Aretha". USA Today. p. 12B.
  19. ^ Renzhofer, Martin (11 Jan 1998). "CD Reviews". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. D6.
  20. ^ Poindexter, Gerald (22 Jan 1998). "Rock". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 16.
  21. ^ Reighley, Kurt B. (Feb 1998). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 54. p. 40.
  22. ^ Aaron, Charles (Aug 2009). "Unsung: The 100 Greatest Bands You've (Probably) Never Heard". Spin. Vol. 25, no. 8. p. 74.
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