''Grotto of Miracles'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American experimental rock band

Sun City Girls Sun City Girls were an American experimental rock band, formed in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1981, the group consisted of Alan Bishop (bass guitar, vocals), his brother Richard Bishop (guitar, piano, vocals), and Charles Gocher (drums, voc ...

. It was released in 1986 by Placebo Records. Like many Sun City Girls LPs, ''Grotto of Miracles'' has become a collector's item.

Critical reception

'' Trouser Press'' wrote: "With demented lyrical concepts and such offbeat accessories as antelope bells, chimes and temple blocks, ''Grotto of Miracles'' is an ethnic stew that shows enormous creative growth." The ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' wrote that the band's "wiggy instrumentals were flavored by surf rock, jazz, and noise, and would give way to pummeling art rock, nonsensical rants, and meandering improvisation." '' Perfect Sound Forever'' praised the "beautiful, Rick ishopheavy, unusually near-accessible first side." '' Maximum Rocknroll'' called the album "very musical, poetic, downright pretty, distinctively ugly, the great acid experience or background music."

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Grotto of Miracles'' liner notes. ;Sun City Girls * Alan Bishop – bass guitar, melodica,

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

, trumpet,

tape Tape or Tapes may refer to: Material A long, narrow, thin strip of material (see also Ribbon (disambiguation): Adhesive tapes * Adhesive tape, any of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive *Athletic tape, pressure-sensitiv ...

, percussion, vocals * Richard Bishop – electric guitar, lap steel guitar, piano, keyboards, organ, melodica, cello, violin, flute, bells, percussion, vocals *

Charles Gocher Charles Gocher Jr. (November 12, 1952 – February 19, 2007) was an American musician, writer and visual artist, most famous for being a founding member, lyricist and drummer of the experimental rock group Sun City Girls. He also released '' Pi ...

– drums, percussion, temple block, bells, chimes,

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

, gong,

güiro The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound. The güiro ...

, maracas, tambourine, autoharp, flute, horns, vocals ;Production and additional personnel * Tom Connell – engineering, mixing *

Joseph Cultice Joseph Cultice is an American photographer. Cultice began his photography career in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was inspired by his love of rock 'n' roll and pop icons like KISS and David Bowie. His first photo shoot was with rock band The Meat ...

– photography * David Oliphant – mixing * Wade Olson – engineering * Peggy Slinger –

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

– mixing, design

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grotto of Miracles 1986 albums Sun City Girls albums