''Black Sheep'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American sibling duo Nat and Alex Wolff, released on October 11, 2011, by Saddleup Records. The duo was required to change its name because the Naked Brothers Band is a trademark of

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

, the successor of Viacom, which owns the Nickelodeon television channel, on which the television show of the same name aired.

Background

The album was recorded in New York in mid-2009 and in Los Angeles over a six-week period from March to April 2010. The song "Losing You to the Crowd" was written by Alex while he and his family were on vacation in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for the 2009 Kid's Choice Awards in Melbourne. Various demos and covers were recorded to promote not only the brothers, but also their official website. Those songs include

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' song "A Hard Day's Night" and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's "Dancing in the Dark."

Promotion and release

The brothers filmed their own

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

from September to December 2010, and in February 2011. These

webisodes A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...

were released online weekly on their YouTube page and featured snippets of tracks from their upcoming album. The album's first single, "Maybe," was released on May 20, 2011 and made available as a free download. The song "Thump Thump Thump" was written by younger brother

Alex Wolff Alexander Draper Wolff (born November 1, 1997) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for starring alongside his older brother Nat in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series '' The Naked Brothers Band'' (2007–09), which ...

Inspiration

The brothers have said they were inspired by bands such as

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

and

. The music on ''Black Sheep'' is more alternative in nature than their previous works, and Nat has said the album is more sophisticated and that he feels he has developed as a songwriter. The boys did not want the same style of music they were known for during their run as The Naked Brothers Band.

Track listing

Personnel

Nat Wolff Nathaniel Marvin Wolff (born December 17, 1994) is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for composing the music for ''The Naked Brothers Band (TV series), The Naked Brothers Band'' (2007–2009), a Nickelodeon television serie ...

– vocals, guitars, piano, bass guitar, keyboards *

– vocals, guitars, drums, piano, percussion

References

External links

The official website of Nat and Alex Wolff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Sheep (Nat and Alex Wolff album) 2011 albums