''Back Off Cupids'' is a solo album by the

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

musician

John Reis John Reis, also known by the pseudonyms Speedo, Slasher, and the Swami is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which ...

, released in 2000 by Big Fish Records. " Back Off Cupids" was also the name given by Reis to the musical project. Recording of the album's material took place in 1994, in between sessions with Reis' bands

Drive Like Jehu Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. It was formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis, ex-members of Pitchfork, along with bassist Mike Kennedy and ...

and Rocket From the Crypt, and involved Rocket From the Crypt

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

players

Jason Crane Jason Crane (also known by the pseudonym JC2000) is an American drummer and trumpeter notable as a member of Rocket from the Crypt, The Black Heart Procession, and Beehive & the Barracudas. Musical career Crane originally performed as drummer i ...

and Paul O'Beirne. Compared to Reis' other musical projects the music was slower, mostly instrumental, and to a certain degree free-form. The material was shelved for several years until mixing was completed in 1999, and the album was finally released in 2000.

Reception

Ned Raggett of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave ''Back Off Cupids'' four stars out of five, commenting that "At points the music is almost a complete turnaround from Reis' other work — consider the rumbling, structured speaker hum and sweet, sad aura of 'Can You Hear My Sleep Dog?,' a standout track. Perhaps the most telling thing about the Back Off Cupids is that while at points one can imagine either Reis or

Rick Froberg Eric "Rick" Froberg (born January 1968, also known by the pseudonyms Rick Fork and Rick Farr) is an American musician and visual artist. He was born in Los Angeles, lived in Encinitas, California, and currently resides in Brooklyn. In his musical ...

singing over all the songs instead of just Reis here and there, the tunes still easily stand on their own. There's no better testament to Reis' skill and abilities."

Track listing

# "Meek Inherits Space" # "Rock and Roll" # "Now We're Asian" # "Can You Hear My Sleep Dog?" # "Trivial Pursuit" # "Painted Half a Picture" # "A Strong Maybe" # "I'm Stolen" # "The Camel Train" # "Plee"

Performers

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

on all tracks except "Trivial Pursuit,"

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on "Trivial Pursuit" * Paul O'Beirne-

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

on "Trivial Pursuit" *

vocals 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 ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, drums on "Trivial Pursuit," all other instrumentation

Album information

* Record label: Big Fish Records * Recorded in 1994 by

Gar Wood Garfield Arthur "Gar" Wood (December 4, 1880 – June 19, 1971) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and championship motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man to travel ...

in his garage except "A Strong Maybe" recorded by Jeff Crouteau in his warehouse * Mixed by John Reis at Drag Racist Recorders in 1999 except "Painted Half a Picture" and "A Strong Maybe" * Mastered by Rafter * Artwork by Rich Jacobs * Layout by Margaret Murray

References

2000 albums John Reis albums {{2000-rock-album-stub