''Monomania'' is the sixth studio album by American
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band
Deerhunter
Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lotus Plaza, Lockett Pundt (guitar, ...
, released on May 7, 2013 on
4AD. Produced by both the band and
Nicolas Vernhes
Nicolas Vernhes is a French record producer, recording engineer and record label owner. He is best known for his work with the American indie rock acts Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing and The War ...
, the album is the first to feature bassist
Josh McKay, and is the only studio album to feature guitarist Frankie Broyles.
The album received universal acclaim upon its release. ''Monomania'' reached number seventy-three 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's title is a reference to lead singer Bradford Cox’s obsessive traits.
In 2015, Cox reflected on his life while writing, recording and promoting ''Monomania'', stating: I was actually going through a deep period of passionate rage.
..That was what I was like at that time: a mixed-up wreck. ''Monomania'' was a very hateful record, and I mistreated a lot of people around me. I was in a lot of pain and very lonely. But there was also a big sense of humor; I never lose my sense of humor."
Recording and release
The album was recorded at Rare Book Room Studio in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, with producer
Nicolas Vernhes
Nicolas Vernhes is a French record producer, recording engineer and record label owner. He is best known for his work with the American indie rock acts Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing and The War ...
, who also produced ''
Microcastle
''Microcastle'' is the third album by Deerhunter. After the album had been leaked on the internet, it became available on iTunes on August 19, 2008, while physical copies were released on October 27, 2008. In the U.S. the album was released on K ...
'' and ''
Rainwater Cassette Exchange
''Rainwater Cassette Exchange'' is an extended-play by Atlanta-based indie rock band Deerhunter. Much like their previous effort, it was recorded at Rare Book Room Studios in Brooklyn with producer Nicolas Vernhes
Nicolas Vernhes is a French re ...
''.
The album's title is a reference to lead singer Bradford Cox’s obsessive traits.
According to Lockett Pundt and Cox,
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His innov ...
,
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...
, and
Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
were major influences on the album, along with the artists such as
Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
and
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...
. Bradford Cox noted, "I can't hold a match to that stuff and I never will. I'll never be black, I'll never have that experience. That's what's missing from indie culture, though: Bo Diddley and blackness. There's a struggle that exists in black music and hillbilly music from a certain era. Old music resonates with me, new music doesn't." Cox also described the album as "a very
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
rock & roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
record".
In 2015, Cox reflected on ''Monomania'' and its reception: "I really think ''Monomania'' was a successful record artistically, and I don’t think people view it that way. I think it’s viewed as an exhausted misstep. Frankly, I feel a lot stronger about ''Monomania''
han 2015's ''Fading Frontier''">Fading_Frontier.html" ;"title="han 2015's ''Fading Frontier">han 2015's ''Fading Frontier'' ''Monomania'' was a case where I set out to accomplish, and I was able to execute, very much what I wanted to. In that way it was a success. I don’t give a shit how many copies it sold or how it got reviewed."
Reception
Critical
''Monomania'' received positive reviews from critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 81, based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Ian Cohen of ''Pitchfork (website)">Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' gave the album a "Best New Music" designation, writing "''Monomania'' is certainly a strong effort on its own merits, and more importantly, they’ve avoided making their deflating "diminishing returns" record [..] that casts doubts about whether they’ve gone too far down the same path. They’ve pulled off something admirable in making an illogical left turn feel like the logical next step where one didn’t exist."
''s Marc Hogan also praised the album, writing "An impishly brilliant 12-song set of scruffy
with moments of dreamy shimmer, ''Monomania'' leaves no confusion about what sort of band Deerhunter are: one that won't stoop to conquer."