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The band were asked to perform on GMTV on 21 July 2006 at around 9:00 am, having performed the night before at Carling Academy Bristol and being unhappy with the GMTV appearance the next day,
''Not Accepted Anywhere'' is the debut album from Welsh rock band The Automatic, originally released on 19 June 2006. Working with producers Stephen Harris, Richard Jackson and
named it amongst the top 10 greatest Welsh albums of the 2000s (decade).
Ian Broudie
Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
on different tracks at a variety of studios around the United Kingdom the album was released through a joint deal between B-Unique Records and Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
.
The album spawned three singles, all of which charted in the UK top 40; " Recover" - which was originally released in 2005, then again in 2006, " Raoul" in 2006 and again in 2007, and " Monster" in 2006.
''Not Accepted Anywhere'' charted at No. 3 in the UK top 40, being awarded platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
certification in music sales. The BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Recording and production
The band recorded demos in early 2005 with Richard Jackson, amongst which were "Monster", "Rats" and "By My Side", early versions of which included Rob Hawkins playing flute on. The demo was sent to B-Unique, who subsequently came to one of the band's live performances, signing them on the spot. Recording the album took place in late 2005 - through to early 2006 over a six-week period. The six weeks of recording were split into four blocks, taking place inCardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
at Stir studio, Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
at The Elevator studio, South Thoresby at The Chapel studio and Hammersmith at The Peace Rooms. Over the four locations the band worked with 3 different producers, including Richard Jackson in Cardiff, Ian Broudie
Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
in Liverpool and Stephen Harris
For release of ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' in the United States a year later the band along with Leon Zervos at Sterling Studios in New York re-worked and re-mixed the entire record, changing various levels of previous recordings to sound how they had originally envisioned; ''"The production is different, it's been mixed to sound a bit more raw and a bit more rock, which is probably more reflective of the way we are live than the UK version is"''.
Composition
In retrospect Rob Hawkins described the lyrics of ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' as personal to the band members experiences up until that point. The title itself is a play upon MasterCard's promotional phrase ''"Accepted Everywhere"''. The band originally considered calling the album ''Now Here in Nowhere''. Lead track "That's What She Said" makes references to pop culture and the drones of day-to-day lives - waiting for the weekend to begin, "Raoul" similarly is about being stuck in routines - with Raoul's being a sandwich shop inCardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
were the band would escape during studio time. "You Shout You Shout You Shout You Shout" also deals with pop culture - specifically pop music and those who listen to it. "Recover" is about trying to motivate yourself and do something other than sit in front of the TV.
"Monster" is about binge drinking and being intoxicated on alcohol, which reveals the ''monster'' in people. Both "Seriously...I Hate You Guys" and "Team Drama" were written about people in the band's lives who "force their problems onto you". "On The Campaign Trail" was written about the band's first experiences of touring in the United Kingdom, with the title referencing Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
''Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72'' is a 1973 book that recounts and analyzes the 1972 presidential campaign in which Richard Nixon was re-elected President of the United States. Written by Hunter S. Thompson and illustrated by R ...
.
''Not Accepted Anywhere'' combined elements of dance-punk, 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 ...
and hard rock. Much of the heavier distorted guitars originally recorded for the album were either removed or made less prominent in the first release of ''Not Accepted Anywhere''. The band used 3 different synthesisers during the recording of the album - an Alesis Micron, Roland Juno-106
The Roland Juno-106 is a synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in February 1984.
Features
The Juno-106 is a polyphonic synthesizer with six voices. It is an analog synthesizer but with digitally controlled oscillators and chorus effect ...
and an Alesis Andromeda. Vocal parts were split between Rob Hawkins who sings the lead vocal on each track, whilst James Frost provides backing vocals and Alex Pennie provides both screams and flat vocals. Many albums tracks have three distinctly separate vocal parts, using call and response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
style layering.
Artwork
The sleeve and album booklet artwork was created by Richard Stockton. The different pieces of the artwork represent different songs on the album; "That's What She Said" is represented by "BLAH BLAH BLAH" in a speech bubble, "Raoul" is represented by asandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
, whilst "Recover" is represented by a megaphone - a reference to the original music video directed by Phaelon Productions. "Monster" is referenced by a pill
Pill or The Pill may refer to:
Drugs
* Pill (pharmacy), referring to anything small for a specific dose of medicine
* "The Pill", a general nickname for the combined oral contraceptive pill
Film and television
* ''The Pill'' (film), a 2011 fil ...
, a sign with "home" written on it refers to "Lost at Home". "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" is represented by the eyeballs, "Seriously...I Hate You Guys" is depicted by a piece of screwed up paper with "hate" scrawled on it. A baseball bat with "drama" written on it refers to track "Team Drama". On top of the banner of "The Automatic" sits a rat, referring to the track "Rats".
For the album's release in the Japan and the United States the artwork is yellow, as opposed to green, with the United States version also changed to The Automatic Automatic due to the legal issues surrounding using the title The Automatic in America. Richard Stockton also designed artwork for the singles from ''Not Accepted Anywhere;'' "Monster", "Raoul" and "Recover".
Release
Over the course of 2005, demos of "Monster" and "Rats" were made available for streaming on MySpace and through the band's website. The first completed album track to be released was " Recover" on 21 November 2005 as a limited 7"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 ...
and limited CD single, featuring "Jack Daniel's" and "Song6" as b-sides
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
. Second single " Raoul" was released with b-side "Trophy Wives" and album track "On The Campaign Trail" on 27 March 2006 as a standard non-limited CD/vinyl single.
The album's title, track-listing and release date were revealed on 27 April 2006, along with release details for the band's third single " Monster", with an album release of 19 June 2006 and a single release on 5 June 2006. After the album's release a compilation EP, also titled Raoul was released, featuring singles "Monster", "Raoul" and "Recover", as well as album track "On The Campaign Trail" and b-sides "Jack Daniel's", "Song6", "High Tide on Caroline Street", "Trophy Wives" and "Night Drive".
Debut single "Recover" was re-recorded and re-released on 18 September 2006, similarly second single "Raoul" was re-worked slightly and received a re-release on 8 January 2007, along with a studio-recording of the band's cover of Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's single " Gold Digger" and a new b-side "Easy Target". The re-release was made on a limited 7" picture disc.
In support of the band's 2007 tour of the United States of America the album was set for release on 26 June 2007, proceeded by a USA release of single "Monster" on 5 June 2007, and an EP So Nice Say It Twice on 19 June 2007.
Promotion
Media coverage
The Automatic made their television debut on 24 February 2006, performing "Raoul" on The Friday Night Project, becoming the first band to make a return performance on the show in August performing "Recover". on 24 February 2006 and again on 18 March on The Album Chart Show. The band appeared on Popworld multiple times, performing "Raoul", "Recover" and "Monster" - all on separate occasions, as well as being featured in a behind the scenes look at the music video for "Monster", trying outpig farming
Pig farming or pork farming or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon) and skins.
Pigs are amenable t ...
, and a behind the scenes look at the 2007 NME Tour.
On 18 March 2006 the band performed "Raoul" on The Album Chart Show, returning again weeks later performing "Recover". The band also appeared on Transmission, T4 On the Beach
T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...
, Soccer AM
''Soccer AM'' is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports.
First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the f ...
, Never Mind The Buzzcocks
''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hos ...
, Fuse TV
Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multi ...
's The Vinnie Langdon Show and headlined Later with Jools Holland after Keane were unable to play. Festival performances from Reading and Leeds 2006 were Glastonbury Festival 2007 also shown on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...James Frost
James Martin Frost (born 22 August 1986) is the guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of Welsh band The Automatic, and guitarist and backing vocalist for Cardiff-based band Effort. As well as his musical duties for The Automatic, Frost ha ...
stated that the band ''"decided to stay up all night after the gig"''. The performance resulted in James Frost and Alex Pennie
Alexander Gregor Pennie (born 14 December 1985) was previously in Welsh band The Automatic from the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where he provided backing vocals as well as playing synthesizers and keyboards for the act. Pennie left The Au ...
destroying their rented equipment, diving into the drum kit, and getting undressed, whilst singer/bassist Rob Hawkins and drummer Iwan continued to mime along to "Monster". Pennie later explained ''"Frost was pretty drunk when we started Monster, and I'm easily led. Before we knew it I was standing in my boxer shorts in the GMTV garden and Frost had trashed all the equipment"''. During the incident a cameraman allegedly received a glancing injury from guitarist James Frost and threatened the band with legal action. This matter was later resolved. The band have stated that they doubt they will ever be asked back, although they have 'not been banned' by GMTV.
The band appeared in radio session for Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter.
After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
's 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, ...
show on 22 February 2006 on, performing tracks in session. The band covered Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's song "Gold Digger" in BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...
in summer 2006. Their performance at the Lemon Grove in Exeter was also broadcast on Steve Lamacq
Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music.
Early life
He attended The Ramsey Academ ...
's BBC 6 Music show on 3 October 2006.
Touring
In 2005 and in early 2006 the band predominantly played support shows, opening for bands such asThe Kooks
The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums).
Their music is primarily influenced by th ...
, Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...
, The Ordinary Boys
The Ordinary Boys are an English indie rock band from Worthing, West Sussex. Originally a hardcore outfit named Next in Line, they are influenced by punk rock and Britpop music, as well as the bands the Clash, the Specials, the Jam, the Kink ...
and Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh comedy hip hop group from Newport, south-east Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the "chav" culture and life in Newpo ...
. The band were billed on the NME 2006 New Music Tour, opening for Boy Kill Boy, before extensively headlining their own tours across the United Kingdom. In the summer of 2006 the band performed at T4 On The Beach
T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...
, Oxegen Festival, T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...
, Cardiff Big Weekend, Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fe ...
amongst others. Touring also took places in other parts of Europe and in Japan, before headlining the NME Indie Rock Tour 2007, with support coming from The View, The Horrors
The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spu ...
and Mumm-Ra. For the majority of 2007 the band toured the United States of America, playing South by Southwest Festival
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
, Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...
and headlining their own USA tour, whilst returning for sporadic UK dates, such as Glastonbury Festival and The Full Ponty festival. Touring and promotion for ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' ended on 26 August 2007 at Get Loaded in the Park, which was the final live appearance with Alex Pennie as a member of The Automatic.
Reception
Dan Martin ofNME
''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 ...
highly praised ''Not Accepted Anywhere,'' stating ''"there’s no slow bits; instead, every single tune has pop, punk, emo, techno, electro and funk rammed in, and there’s 12 of these melt-in-the-mouth morsels"'', pointing out vocalist and keyboardist Alex Pennie as one of the band's unique selling points claiming ''"soon all bands will have an Alex Pennie"'' describing him as a ''"borderline Tourette’s bashing a keyboard with his fists and screeching backing vocals, have made him sound like a new instrument all of its own."'' The BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...ranked the album as one of the top 10 albums to come out of
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
between 2000 to 2010, with Tom Smith claiming they had produced an album full of three-minute pop jewels. A positive review from This Is Fake DIY
''DIY'' is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops.
DIY Magazine
''DIY'' was launched in 2002 by then-editor ...
stated it takes just 30 seconds before the first ''"yelping, jerking irresistible hook line, trashing the hype machine in the process"''. Gigwise.com's Jeff Ando claimed that ''"The Automatic could be the band of 2006"'', comparing their music to that of The Killers
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
and Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...
, also commenting that any of the 12 tracks could stand release as a single. The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
awarded ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' 3 out of 5 commenting ''"your standard four-piece band is now doing the guitar and drums thing at twice the speed, powered by an urgent rage"'' believing that the band had the potential and recipe to take their music into top 5 the UK music charts. Jon Seller of Scottish music magazine The Skinny praised the album's originality and interesting vocal arrangements, awarding 4 out of 5 stars.
Drowned in Sound reviewer Dom Gourlay awarded the album 5 out of 10, labelling single "Monster" as ''"big, dumb and totally unforgettable"'', however questioned why a band who could write such a catchy song would write an album which ''"reeks of such depressing déjà vu"''. Steve Jelbert of The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
called ''Not Accepted Anywhere'' a ''"reasonable debut album"'', yet ''"already dated"''. Reviewing the 2007 re-release in the United States multi-media site IGN called the album repetitive, awarding only 5 out of 10 stars, calling single "Raoul" a Kaiser Chiefs throwaway, only praising track "You Shout You Shout You Shout You Shout".
Track listing
Personnel
;The Automatic *Robin Hawkins
Robin Hawkins (born 11 February 1986) is a vocalist and bassist. He was a member of Welsh band The Automatic.
Personal life
Rob studied at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chance with The Automatic ...
- lead vocals, bass guitar
* James Frost
James Martin Frost (born 22 August 1986) is the guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of Welsh band The Automatic, and guitarist and backing vocalist for Cardiff-based band Effort. As well as his musical duties for The Automatic, Frost ha ...
- guitar, vocals
* Alex Pennie
Alexander Gregor Pennie (born 14 December 1985) was previously in Welsh band The Automatic from the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where he provided backing vocals as well as playing synthesizers and keyboards for the act. Pennie left The Au ...
- synthesisers, keyboards, percussion, vocals
* Iwan Griffiths
Iwan Griffiths is drummer for Welsh rock band The Automatic. Iwan originates from Cowbridge in Wales, and lives in Cardiff. He has a law degree from Cardiff University.
Musical career
Along with bandmates Rob and Frost he was in the lineup of t ...
- drums, percussion
;Production
* Ian Broudie
Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
- producer on "Recover"
* Stephen Harris - producer
* Richard Jackson - producer
; Artwork
* D*Face
Chart performance
The album itself hit No. 3 in theUK Album Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. Four of the five UK singles were also entered to UK Singles Charts
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top- ...
. " Monster" topped all 4, hitting number 4, whilst Recover reached 25, and Raoul releases reached 34 and 44.Late Chart Reference to Not Accepted Anywhere
References
External links
The Automatic
official website {{Authority control The Automatic albums 2006 debut albums Albums produced by Ian Broudie Polydor Records albums Columbia Records albums