''Baby Darling Doll Face Honey'' is the debut album by Southampton

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Band of Skulls Band of Skulls are an English rock band from Southampton, consisting of Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals) and Emma Richardson ( bass, vocals); Matt Hayward (drums; 2002–2016) was previously a member. The group formed after meeting in college, ...

. It was released on 7 April 2009 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and 28 July 2009 in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The artwork is based on paintings by

bass player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Emma Richardson. ''Baby Darling Doll Face Honey'' was produced, recorded and mixed by

Ian Davenport Ian Davenport (born 8 July 1966) is an English abstract painter and former Turner Prize nominee. Life and work Ian Davenport was born in Sidcup, and studied art at the Northwich College of Art and Design in Cheshire and then at Goldsmiths C ...

, (

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ( ...

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show ''Sam and his Magic Ball'', which he saw ...

), and recorded at Courtyard Studios in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and mixed at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The first single "I Know What I Am" was released as the single of the week in Canada. The album's first track "Light of the Morning", was featured in a television ad for the 2011 Ford Mustang. The song "I Know What I Am" features in the music game '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock'' and as a downloadable track for ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

'' through the

Rock Band Network The ''Rock Band'' Network (abbreviated RBN) was a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the ''Rock Band'' seri ...

, while the song "Patterns" features in the driving simulator ''

Gran Turismo 5 is a 2010 racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010 in Europe and North America, and November 25, 2010 in Japan and Australasia, and ...

''. The album debuted belatedly on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

on 27 February 2010 at position 50.

Reception

Critical reception to ''Baby Darling Doll Face Honey'' was generally positive. In the UK ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'' gave the album a 9 out of 10 review, stating that "the entire collection crackles with an urgency and authenticity that's as rare as it is desirable." The website ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' gave the album a 6 out of 10, stating that the album was "a mish-mash of three or four styles, recalling as many different artists, with songs written by all three band members and sung by two of them. If that sentence was dizzying to read, imagining hearing the album. It’s as if every cast member of Friends got to write and direct a different scene in a single episode. It’s as if every third letter on this page were a different color. It’s just, shall we say, a bit jarring." They go on to refer to the song, "Impossible" as a mix of U2,

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

and

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (sometimes abbreviated to CYHSY) is the musical project of American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Alec Ounsworth, active since the early 2000s in and out of Philadelphia. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have rel ...

Track listing

Personnel

*Russell Marsden – vocals, guitar *Emma Richardson – bass guitar, vocals *Matt Hayward – drums

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2009 debut albums Band of Skulls albums