''Tank Top City'' is the second album by

Sugarsmack ''Sugarsmack'' were an American alternative rock band based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, formed by Hope Nicholls and Aaron Pitkin. The group was put together after Hope had departed from her previous band, Fetchin Bones, and had b ...

, released in 1998 through

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

. The album was one of many late 1990s Sire alternative rock releases that failed commercially.

Critical reception

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'' called the album "kinetic, jagged rock that lies somewhere between England’s The Fall and Atlanta’s late, lamented The Jody Grind," writing that it "finds the band in top form." The ''

Memphis Flyer The ''Memphis Flyer'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper serving the greater Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along th ...

'' wrote that the band "has adopted an almost-over-the-top punk swagger that makes it stand out." ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review''. ...

'' called ''Tank Top City'' a "16-song luge ride through wild terrain," writing that "the secret of getting on the band's wavelength when listening to a song like 'Reagan' is to just say no to logic and submit to the band's altered neural pathways."

Track listing

Personnel

;Sugarsmack *John Adamian –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Chris Chandek – guitar *

Hope Nicholls Hope Nicholls (born January 1960) is an American singer-songwriter from Charlotte, North Carolina. She was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock bands Fetchin Bones, Sugarsmack and Snagglepuss. She also briefly toured with Martin Atkins' ba ...

– vocals,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

*Aaron Pitkin –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, guitar, vocals ;Production and additional personnel *Aaron Bachelder –

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

*Mindy Barker –

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

*Marc Becker –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, mixing *Greg Calbi – mastering *Cookie Jackson –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

*Sarah Beth Turner –

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 albums Sire Records albums Sugarsmack albums