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Rope-a-Dope (Antietam album)

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Rope-a-Dope
Studio album by
Antietam
Released1994
GenreIndie rock
LabelHomestead[1]
ProducerLyle Hysen, Antietam
Antietam chronology
Antietam Comes Alive!
(1992) 		Rope-a-Dope
(1994) 		Victory Park
(2004)

Rope-a-Dope is an album by the American indie rock band Antietam, released in 1994.[2] It is named for the boxing technique.[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]

Production

[edit]

The album was produced by Lyle Hysen and Antietam.[5] Ira Kaplan contributed to the album's opening track, "Hands Down".[4] Rope-a-Dope includes a cover of Dead Moon's "Graveyard".[6]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
Entertainment WeeklyB[10]

Trouser Press thought that "as borne out by songs like the gently psychedelic 'Pine', [Tara] Key has settled into a wafting lower register that accentuates the spooky qualities of her voice; she's also found a way to channel some of her manic onstage attack."[6] Entertainment Weekly deemed "Hands Down" "a wonderfully propulsive, guitar- and organ-driven bucket of noise."[10] The Washington Post opined that "Key's piercing guitar lines are the group's trademark, yet the gentle, [Tim] Harris-sung 'Hardly Believe' has the album's most memorable tune."[11]

Greil Marcus, in Artforum, noted that Key and Harris "can't sing," but wrote that "every time you’re about to give up on this music, Key summons a passage on her instrument that does sing."[12] Guitar Player praised Key's "spectacularly distorted tone that's exuberantly trashy yet retains razor-edged definition."[13]

AllMusic called the album "an unjustly overlooked piece of mid-'90s indie rock," writing that the "high point, and possibly the best thing Antietam ever did, is the 11-minute closer 'Silver Solace', which builds and ebbs with structural grace and contains some of Key's most remarkable singing and soloing."[7]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Hands Down"3:31
2."What She Will"5:04
3."Pine"4:52
4."Certain Muse"2:59
5."Hardly Believe"4:34
6."Graveyard"3:25
7."Rope-a-Dope"2:58
8."Leave Home"6:08
9."Betwixt"4:27
10."Silver Solace"10:39

Personnel

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  • Tim Harris – bass, vocals
  • Tara Key – guitars, vocals
  • Josh Madell – drums, vocals

References

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  1. ^ Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. Random House. 1997. p. 433.
  2. ^ "Antietam | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Curry, Paul (8 Apr 1995). "Reviews". Scene. Courier Journal. p. 12.
  4. ^ a b DeLuca, Dan (2 Dec 1994). "Dambuilders, Antietam". Nightlife. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 17.
  5. ^ "Album Reviews". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 2. Jan 14, 1995. p. 44.
  6. ^ a b "Antietam". Trouser Press. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Rope-A-Dope - Antietam | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  8. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Antietam". www.robertchristgau.com.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 210.
  10. ^ a b "Rope-a-Dope". Entertainment Weekly.
  11. ^ "Antietam's Battle: Guitars vs. Structure". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Greil Marcus Top Ten". Artforum.
  13. ^ Gore, Joe (Feb 1995). "Reviews". Guitar Player. Vol. 29, no. 2. p. 145.
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