''The Venus Trail'' is an album by the New Zealand band

the 3Ds The 3Ds were a New Zealand noise pop band based from Dunedin, together from 1988 to 1997. They recorded three albums and several EPs, the best known of which is ''The Venus Trail'' (1993). They achieved commercial and critical success worldwid ...

, released in 1993. The album was released by

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

in the United States.

Production

The recording sessions took place at the Grand Masonic Lodge, in

Dunedin, New Zealand Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Critical reception

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'' called ''The Venus Trail'' "a more refined and accomplished album." '' Stylus Magazine'' called the album's first single, "Hey Seuss", "a fantastic scuzzed-up pop song of a track built around a simple descending guitar riff, but for all the sophistication of its recording, it still sound like it was done on Chris Knox’s four track." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote that the album "can’t match ''Hellzapoppin''’s amazing gusts of energy — not even with the angry, two-minute sock in the face 'Hey Seuss' — yet it attains nearly the same level of accomplishment in the expanded range of sounds." '' Spin'' wrote that "beautiful melodies fight to be recognized over the twin guitar delirium."

Track listing

Side one #"Hey Seuss" – 2:22 #"Philadelphia Rising" – 4:50 #"Cash None" – 3:08 #"The Golden Grove" – 2:45 #"The Venus Trail" – 2:12 #"Beautiful Things" – 3:32 Side two #"Man on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" – 4:07 #"Jane Air" – 3:08 #"The Young and the Restless" - 3:18 #"Summer Stone" – 2:40 #"Ice" – 6:05 #"Spooky" – 4:54

Personnel

* David Mitchell – guitar, vocals * Denise Roughan – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals * David Saunders – guitar, vocals * Dominic Stones – drums

References

The 3Ds albums 1993 albums Flying Nun Records albums {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub