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Secret Swingers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Secret Swingers
Studio album by
Released1996
GenreIndie rock
LabelTeenBeat/Caroline[1]
ProducerNicolas Vernhes
Versus chronology
Deep Red
(1996)
Secret Swingers
(1996)
Two Cents Plus Tax
(1998)

Secret Swingers is an album by the American band Versus, released in 1996.[2][3] The band supported the album by participating in the Caroline All-Stars Fall Tour.[4]

Production

[edit]

The band added a second guitar player, James Baluyut, prior to the Secret Swingers recordings sessions.[5] The album was produced by Nicolas Vernhes, and was recorded over a month and a half.[6] The album title and many of the songs allude to double lives and secretive relationships.[7]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Chicago Sun-Times[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[10]

The Nashville Banner called the album "derivative of Sonic Youth," but wrote that "Versus still manages to bring its fair share of ideas to the table."[11] The Village Voice deemed it "as 'original' as guitar-bass-drums-vocals indie-rock music gets," declaring that "with equal boy and girl intensity, and ecstatic, near-schizophrenic tempo/volume changes, Versus have forged that rare commodity: a 'sound'."[6] The Sunday Times praised Fontaine Toups, writing that she "supplies the kind of motorised bass parts New Order's Peter Hook wouldn't have been ashamed of."[12] The Day noted Versus' "odd guitar tunings, bittersweet vocal harmonies and paranoid lyrics."[13]

AllMusic called the album "a superbly textured set more consistent and eclectic than anything else the band has done to date."[5] Magnet wrote that "Secret Swingers may not have been revolutionary, but like a good inside joke between friends, it stuck around."[14] Reviewing the band's 2010 album, On the Ones and Threes, Pitchfork thought that Versus' two Caroline releases "sound as close as most any other records to a definitive indie rock sound."[15]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Lose That Dress" 
2."Yeah You" 
3."Glitter of Love" 
4."Ghost Story" 
5."Use as Directed" 
6."Double Suicide (Mercy Killing)" 
7."Jealous" 
8."Shower Song" 
9."Angels Rush In" 
10."One Million" 
11."A Heart Is a Diamond" 

References

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  1. ^ "Versus". Trouser Press. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Versus Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Thompson, Stephen (31 Oct 1996). "More 'Ween Shows Than You Can Wave a Witch's Broom At". Rhythm. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 9.
  4. ^ Stifler, John (5 Sep 1996). "Count 'em, three bands touring". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. 4.33.
  5. ^ a b c "Secret Swingers". AllMusic.
  6. ^ a b McGonigal, Mike (6 Aug 1996). "Suicide missionaries". The Village Voice. Vol. 41, no. 32. p. 59.
  7. ^ Perry, Jonathan (25 Oct 1996). "Versus: Ethereal pop at a hard-rock pace". Weekend. The State. p. 14.
  8. ^ Williams, Kevin M. (December 1, 1996). "Spin Control". Showcase. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 14.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 426.
  10. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1197.
  11. ^ Gray, Michael (24 Oct 1996). "Versus". Nashville Banner. p. C4.
  12. ^ Lee, Stewart (1 Sep 1996). "Versus Secret Swingers Caroline". Features. The Sunday Times. p. 1.
  13. ^ Timberg, Scott (5 Sep 1996). "Plenty of alternatives for alternative rock". Music. The Day. p. 4.
  14. ^ "Lost Classics: Versus "Secret Swingers"". Magnet. February 14, 2009.
  15. ^ "Versus: On the Ones and Threes". Pitchfork.