''I've Seen Everything'' is the second studio album by Scottish band
The Trash Can Sinatras
Trashcan Sinatras are a Scottish band that were formed in Irvine, Scotland in 1986. The band's music makes frequent use of pop harmonies and wordplay.
History
Formation
The band members met through the club/pub music scene in Irvine. The o ...
, released by
Go! Discs
Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Sym ...
in 1993. The album reached No. 50 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
.
Background
The album was recorded at the band's own 24-track studio, Shabby Road Studios in
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
and mixed at Orinoco Studios in London. Three singles were released from the album: "
Hayfever
Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...
" (No. 61 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
), "I've Seen Everything" and "Bloodrush" (promotional only).
Speaking to ''Glide Magazine'' in 2018, Francis Reader recalled of ''I've Seen Everything'': "It's still one of the fans' favourites. It was a big step for us too, lyrically and musically. John started to write a lot more ndPaul too. I was trying to keep up with people, really. They were writing great songs."
Critical reception
Upon its release, Tim Harrison of the ''
Ealing Leader
Reach plc publishes many newspapers, magazines and news websites. This list of Reach plc titles is a non-exhuastive list of these. Before 2018, Reach plc was known as Trinity Mirror plc. The list includes titles owned by the Mirror Group Newspape ...
'' described ''I've Seen Everything'' as a "melodic, velvety concoction" with "a lot of subject matter" and "strong echoes of
The Housemartins
The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...
". He concluded, "''I've Seen Everything'' san economic, restrained and sensitive collection well worth listening to." The ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
'' wrote, "Their debut was a fine beginning, but on its successor they've hardened their approach and broadened the scope of their songwriting. Whereas before they tended to sit back and admire their pretty chord structures, they're now audibly relishing the opportunity to get stuck in to the material."
Dave Jennings of ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' was more mixed in his review, commenting that the album, though "initially relaxing and refreshing", is "awfully low on the sort of obvious excitement we regular indie-rock consumers are conditioned to expect". He described it as being "built from baroque acoustic guitar flourishes, hushed voices and downbeat, fragile sentiments" and noted the "clever musical and lyrical twists hidden away", but felt that "you need a hell of lot of patience to get through all the aggravating precious bits to the little glimmers of gold". He added that there's "something terribly world-weary and defeatist" about the album and considered its "modest, gentle virtues" to be "that bit too old-fashioned for 1993". He picked "One At a Time" as the highlight, noting that it's "sung in tones of deep disgust, backed up with the kind of muscular, chopping chords resolutely resisted on the rest of the LP". Paul Moody of the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' was indifferent to much of the material, noting the same "world weary crooning ndthesaurus robbery", as well as more of the "heart-strung guitars and winsome lyric about life's injustices", as seen on ''Cake''. He singled out the "sad afternoon love song" "Hayfever" as "an absolute peach" and added that the title track "isn't bad either, if you liked the
Beautiful South
The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Hull group The Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members throughout the band's exi ...
's '
A Little Time
"A Little Time" is a song by English pop rock group the Beautiful South, the first single to be released from their second album, '' Choke''. It consists of a duet featuring vocalists Dave Hemingway and Briana Corrigan.
In the US, Brent Ainsworth of the ''
Santa Cruz Sentinel
The ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California, covering Santa Cruz County, California, and owned by Media News Group.
Ottaway Community Newspapers, a division of Dow Jones & Company bought the paper in 1982 ...
'' felt the album was "abundant
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
luscious, flowing pop", with the "softer songs" being best. David Mark of the ''
Asbury Park Press
The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997.
Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...
'' described ''I've Seen Everything'' as "a notch more somber" but "an equally interesting effort" to the band's debut album ''Cake''. He commented, "The work, always interesting musically and lyrically, is something of a cross between
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' ''
Rubber Soul
''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom, on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work ...
'' and
XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...
's ''
Skylarking
''Skylarking'' is the ninth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released 27 October 1986 on Virgin Records. Produced by American musician Todd Rundgren, it is a loose concept album about a nonspecific cycle, such as a day, a year, the s ...
''." The ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...
'' considered the album to "combine sweet tunes and acoustic settings with melancholy speculations about the could-be's, the would-be's and the stinging bees of life". Larry Printz of ''
The Morning Call
''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Al ...
'' stated, "Full of great texture, swirling melodicism, and ironic songwriting, this Scottish band delivers the goods. This album has a greater depth than you'd expect from just jangly guitars." He highlighted "I'm Immortal", "Worked a Miracle" and "Killing the Cabinet" as three of the album's "notable tracks".
Peter Holmes of Australia's ''
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' described the album as "an inspired recording", which "jumps confidently from uneasy acoustic pop through chunky guitar revs and slow note picking". He highlighted "I'm Immortal" for containing "a chorus the Beatles would've been proud of", along with "One at a Time", which he considered to be "propelled by raging guitars, chaotic criss-crossed vocals and the lead guitar line of the year". Holmes added, "Shulman deserves praise for allowing the band to spray wide on the canvas; for an album to be all over the place yet strangely cohesive is no small feat."
Track listing
Personnel
The Trash Can Sinatras
* Francis Reader – vocals, guitar
* Paul Livingston – guitar
* John Douglas – guitar
* David Hughes – bass
* Stephen Douglas – drums
Additional musicians
* Sam Francis – vocals (track 9)
* Larry Primrose – piano (track 2), bongos (track 8)
* Allison Thomson – trumpet (track 12)
* Nick Ingham – string arrangements (tracks 1–2)
Production
*
Ray Shulman
Raymond Shulman (born 8 December 1949) is a Scottish musician, and the youngest of three brothers in progressive rock band Gentle Giant.
Shulman was born in Portsmouth. His father was a trumpet player in a jazz band, and that was the first inst ...
– producer, engineer, mixing
* Larry Primrose – engineer, mixing
Other
* John Douglas – paintings
* Neil Cooper – photography