''The Murmurs'' is an album by the American music duo

the Murmurs The Murmurs were an American alternative pop music duo composed of singer-songwriters Leisha Hailey and Heather Grody. Some time after the duo went their separate ways, Hailey became one half of Uh Huh Her and Grody became a founding member of R ...

, released in 1994. The duo supported the album with a North American tour that included shows with Joe Jackson. " You Suck" was a minor hit.

Production

The album was produced primarily by

Roger Greenawalt Roger McEvoy Greenawalt is a music producer and musician known for carrying a ukulele at all times everywhere he goes. Greenawalt has worked with Iggy Pop, Rufus Wainwright, Nils Lofgren, The Pierces, Ben Kweller, Ric Ocasek, Branford Marsalis ...

and Billy Basinski. The songs were built around the duo's acoustic guitar playing; many songs added instruments such as flute and oboe. "You Suck" is an autobiographical song about an early advisor who swindled the duo. Two songs, "Basically" and "Beautiful Peace", are about the duo's mothers.

Critical reception

'' The Advocate'' deemed the album "an unfunny caricature of Woodstock-era folk music at its most amateurish," writing that "once again, as with k.d. lang, Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls, we get a whitewashing of sexual desire." The ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' wrote that "the Murmurs sing of sad days wasting time, first loves and nights filled with dreams ... Instrumentation is spare and light, allowing the fragile murmurs to rise into real voices." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' concluded that "these two obnoxious, petulant, fluorescent-haired young women have turned whining into an art form." '' The Record'' determined that "any folky feel is belied by the record's slick production and bland rhythm section." ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

'' praised the "fresh voices carrying twentysomething poetry with all its youthful certainty tempered by questions." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' labeled the album "blandly sweet," writing that "a spoonful of sugar is fine, but too much honey can yield a concoction as cloying as ''The Murmurs''."

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 databas ...

called ''The Murmurs'' "an album full of lovely, literate, acoustic-based alt pop."

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murmurs The Murmurs albums 1994 albums MCA Records albums