''Tindersticks'' is the debut album by the
chamber pop
Chamber pop (or Chamber rock; also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of strings, horns, piano, and vocal harmonies, and other compo ...
band
Tindersticks
Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. Th ...
, released in the UK on 11 October 1993 on This Way Up. Following positive reviews for their early singles and live performances, it was released to widespread critical acclaim by the music press, eventually being named album of the year by the UK music magazine ''
Melody Maker''.
Release and promotion
The album was released on CD and as a double vinyl album which featured a bonus track, "Fruitless", that was not included on the CD (on the CD's track listing "Fruitless" is crossed out). The album included re-recorded versions of both sides of the band's debut single, "Patchwork" and "Milky Teeth", and their second single "Marbles", which had been released as a 10" single only – both singles were originally released on Tindersticks' own Tippy Toes label.
The band's new label This Way Up released "City Sickness" on 13 September 1993 as the third single ahead of the album, and the group made their first video to accompany the single with director Martin Wallace, marking the beginning of a long association between the band and Wallace. At the time Wallace was working with
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
, and
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...
co-directed the "City Sickness" video along with Wallace. The video features scenes of everyday life shot in and around London's
Hyde Park, focussing on keyboard player Dave Boulter pushing a buggy with singer
Stuart Staples' baby daughter Sydonie in it.
By the time of the album's release Tindersticks had already picked up critical acclaim in the music press and from
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJs
John Peel and
Mark Radcliffe, who named ''Tindersticks'' as his favourite album of the year. The band recorded several sessions for the programmes of both DJs, including the first night of Radcliffe and
Marc Riley
Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Ta ...
's new late night Radio 1 show on 25 October 1993 (they also played on the show's final broadcast on 6 February 1997).
In June 2004
Island Records reissued the first four Tindersticks albums as remastered 2-CD sets featuring the original album and a bonus CD. For ''Tindersticks'' the bonus CD featured twelve demo versions of tracks recorded during sessions for the album.
As of March 1994 it had sold over 20,000 copies in United Kingdom.
Cover
The first 1,000 copies of the album included a pack of four postcards, featuring the front cover of the album, the portrait of the band on the inner sleeve, and paintings of a boy and a girl (the painting of the girl had already appeared as the cover of "Marbles"). The cover is a reproduction of a painting, "The Red Dress", by popular mid 20th century Spanish artist Francisco Rodriguez Sanchez Clement.
Critical reception
''
Melody Maker'' said, "Some might consider releasing a double album as your debut a mite ambitious, but Tindersticks have that much more to offer. This album moves like a camera through a night in the heart of town. Behind the lens, a stranger, a lover and a fighter ... There's sweet romance at this album's core, even though it's tarnished by violence ... Their songs all invoke the uncomfortable claustrophobia of a big city ... So here it is, the main feature. ''Tindersticks'' is all I've said and more. And for Tindersticks, this epic movie is only the beginning."
''
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 ...
'' felt that "''Tindersticks'' may not be perfect, but there's much on these four sides that warrants its alleged indulgence. For while the singles supplied a detailed sketch of the band's musical worth, the album offers the full picture, freshly painted and beautifully framed. Tacky in places for sure, but, on the whole, massively moving and daring ... gut instinct dictates that ''Tindersticks'' will be recommended as required listening in the winter months to come. The full impact of this amazing, exasperating, but ultimately fascinating album will yet be felt."
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
said of the album, "A thrilling, revelatory debut, ''Tindersticks'' is a chamber pop masterpiece of romantic elegance and gutter debauchery. Within the framework of a remarkably consistent and mesmerizingly dank atmosphere, the group covers a stunning amount of ground ... Fascinatingly constructed and strikingly ambitious, ''Tindersticks'' is insidiously labyrinthine: the music speaks softly but carries tremendous weight, and its hold grows more and more unbreakable with each listen."
Accolades
''Tindersticks'' was named album of the year by ''Melody Maker''
and placed at number 13 on the ''NME''s equivalent list. In the list of ''NMEs singles of the year for 1993, "Marbles" was placed at number 7 and "City Sickness" made number 42, while ''Melody Maker'' named "City Sickness" the fourth best single of 1993.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Tindersticks.
#"Nectar" – 2:40
#"Tyed" – 4:11
#"Pt 1" – 0:41
#"Whiskey & Water" – 5:51
#"Blood" – 4:52
#"City Sickness" – 4:00
#"Patchwork" – 4:40
#"Marbles" – 4:30
#"The Walt Blues" – 1:08
#"Milky Teeth" – 2:52
#"Sweet Sweet Man Pt 2" – 1:05
#"Jism" – 6:03
#"Piano Song" – 2:40
#"Tie-Dye" – 4:00
#"Raindrops" – 6:15
#"Pt 3" – 1:44
#"Her" – 3:29
#"Tea Stain" – 2:07
#"Drunk Tank" – 4:44
#"Paco de Renaldo's Dream" – 4:22
#"The Not Knowing" – 4:58
*Note: "Fruitless" was included as a bonus track on the
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
version of the album only, as the album's second track between "Nectar" and "Tyed". The title is shown as struck out on the CD track listing.
2004 remaster
The 2004 remaster contains two discs. The first is a remastered version of the original CD version of the album. The bonus disc contains "''Tindersticks'' Demos" as listed below:
#"The Sorrow the Joy Brings" – 4:04
#"Fruitless" – 2:02
#"Whiskey & Water" – 5:39
#"For Those ..." – 3:58
#"Blood" – 4:49
#"City Sickness" – 4:14
#"Patchwork" – 4:23
#"Raindrops" – 5:38
#"Piano Song" – 4:46
#"A Sweet Sweet Man" – 4:51
#"Visiting" – 5:25
#"Drunk Tank" – 5:41
Personnel
;Tindersticks
*
Stuart Staples – vocals, guitar
*David Boulter – keyboards
*Neil Fraser – guitar
*Dickon Hinchliffe – violin
*Mark Colwill – bass guitar
*Alistair Macaulay – drums, vibraphone
;Additional personnel
*
Terry Edwards
Terry Edwards (born 10 August 1960) is an English musician who plays trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophones, guitar and keyboards.
Biography
Edwards gained a degree in music from the University of East Anglia in 1982, where he was also a founding me ...
– trumpet, soprano saxophone on "The Not Knowing"
*Martin Harman –
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
...
on "The Not Knowing"
*Rosie Lindsell –
bassoon on "The Not Knowing"
*
Ian Bishop –
clarinet on "The Not Knowing"
;Production
*Producers:
Ian Caple
Ian Caple is an English recording engineer, record producer, programmer and mixer.
History
Caple's career began at EMI Music in 1979. After training at Abbey Road Studios, he became an engineer at EMI's KPM studios in Denmark Street London. ...
, Tindersticks
*Engineer:
Ian Caple
Ian Caple is an English recording engineer, record producer, programmer and mixer.
History
Caple's career began at EMI Music in 1979. After training at Abbey Road Studios, he became an engineer at EMI's KPM studios in Denmark Street London. ...
*Arranger: Tindersticks
*Sleeve design: Tindersticks
Review quotes
*"The First Tindersticks Album draws inspiration from the playful narrative style of producer
Lee Hazlewood
Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960 ...
(
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including " Rebel ...
,
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.
Nancy Sinatr ...
), the Cinemascope orchestrations of
John Barry and the twilight-zone claustrophobia of
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds." – ''Rolling Stone''
*"... Press superlatives, record company support, and the highly individual style of British
indie rock
Indie rock is a 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 music they produc ...
sextet Tindersticks have ignited a fire of interest that looks likely to cross the Atlantic". – ''Billboard''
*"... it's the feel of rain-wet cobblestones and French cigarettes that immediately define Tindersticks' debut." – ''Raygun''
*"... the band's delicately paced songs are woven around piano or organ beds, or gracefully sculpted guitar lines. Sitting in the middle, like a rich chocolate center, are the sultry vocals of Stuart Staples ..." – ''CMJ''
*"... Tindersticks is sprawling, ambitious, faltering, brilliant, romantic, spontaneous, spooky, flawed and delightful. About f**king time." – ''Melody Maker'', Album of the year
*"... How truly refreshing it is to be utterly spellbound and gently disturbed, to see a band at the beginning of something that promises immeasurable greatness." – ''Melody Maker''
Release history
References
{{Authority control
Tindersticks albums
1993 debut albums