''Blender'' is the third studio album released by American alternative pop band The Murmurs; it was released on August 4, 1998 on

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

. The album was produced by Larry Klein, k.d. lang and Matthew Wilder. ''Blender'' primarily consists of tracks from their second album ''

Pristine Smut ''Pristine Smut'' is an album released by American alternative pop band the Murmurs; it was released on June 24, 1997, by MCA. The album was produced by Larry Klein and k.d. lang and all tracks on the album were written by The Murmurs members Hea ...

'', originally released in June 1997. One of them, "I'm A Mess", was remixed; additionally, three new songs written around the time of ''Pristine Smuts release are included. All of the tracks were written by band members Leisha Hailey and Heather Grody. One, "Smash", was co-written with members of rock band The Go-Go's, Jane Wiedlin and

Charlotte Caffey Charlotte Irene Caffey (born October 21, 1953) is an American guitarist, best known for her work in the rock band the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat". Career Caffey began her musical career playing bass guitar in the ...

Reception

In a review for Allmusic, Alex Henderson gave ''Blender'' a star rating of four out of five, calling it "power-pop heaven". Henderson compared the sound of the album to that The Go-Go's and praised "Underdog", "Sucker Upper" and "La Di Da" in particular as "first-class ... fun, melodic offerings".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave the album a B− rating and compared it negatively to its predecessor, ''

''. He criticized the band's " pusillanimity", and said "they were cuter with slime on their pudenda". Kentucky paper ''Daily News'' wrote in 1998, " MCA Records is giving The Murmurs a rare second chance to score with ''Pristine Smut''. If any album deserves another shot, it's this superb, but overlooked, 1997 release by the duo of

Heather Grody The Murmurs were an American alternative pop music duo composed of singer-songwriters Leisha Hailey and Heather Grody. Some time after the duo went their separate ways, Hailey became one half of Uh Huh Her and Grody became a founding member of ...

and Leisha Hailey. And The Murmurs have made their release all the more tempting; they've replaced three throwaway tracks with three vital new songs, and they've overhauled one of the better cuts from the original, revamping "I'm a Mess" into a beefier rendition with tougher lead vocals and melodic countervocals." They also commented, "Grody and Hailey themselves have been made over. Their glossy new look adorns the ''Blender'' cover — more inviting than the goofy retro matron on the cover of ''Pristine Smut'' and more flattering than the candid snapshot of the duo on the back of the previous release." In 2011, Pride.com ranked it 35th on their list of "The 100 Greatest Lesbian Albums of All Time".

Track listing

#"La Di Da" — 2:57 #"I'm a Mess" — 3:13 #"Big Talker" — 2:58 #"Misfit" — 4:03 #"Smash" — 2:35 #"Genius" — 3:42 #"Don't Lie" — 2:56 #"Underdog" — 2:56 #"Sucker Upper" — 3:00 #"Country Song" — 2:28 #"About Nothin'" — 2:49

Personnel

;Music *Gregg Arreguin — guitar *Teddy Borowiecki — keyboards *Heather Grody — composer * Leisha Hailey — composer * Larry Klein — bass * Abe Laboriel, Jr. — drums * Greg Leisz — mandolin, pedal steel * Jerry Marotta — drums, Native American drums *Ben Mink — guitar *The Murmurs — ensemble, guitar, vocals *Sheri Ozeki — bass *Sherri Solinger — drums * Matthew Wilder — harmonium, keyboards,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, synthesizer ;Production *Phil Kaffel — engineer, mixing *Larry Klein — producer * k.d. lang — producer *Tony Phillips — engineer, mixing *Marc Ramaer — engineer *Skip Saylor — engineer, mixing *Eddy Schreyer — mastering *Matthew Wilder — producer, programming ;Design *Christy Bush — photography *Danny Flynn — stylist *Kenny J. Gravillis — art direction, design *Russell A. Robinson — design

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums The Murmurs albums Albums produced by Larry Klein MCA Records albums