''American Standard'' is the third and final album by the American band

Mary's Danish Mary's Danish was an alternative rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, ...

, released in 1992. The band supported the album by participating in a

Rock the Vote Rock the Vote is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization in the United States. Through registering new young voters, the group aims to "channel the energy among young people around racial, economic, and health justice into one of the mo ...

tour, following it with a tour with

the Darling Buds The Darling Buds are an alternative rock band from Newport, Wales, Newport, Wales. The band formed in 1986 and were named after the H. E. Bates novel ''The Darling Buds of May (novel), The Darling Buds of May'' – a title taken in turn, from t ...

. "Leave It Alone" peaked at No. 20 on ''Billboard''s

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart.

Production

The album was produced primarily by

Peter Asher Peter Asher (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and re ...

, who also served as the band's manager.

Niko Bolas Niko Bolas is an American music producer, sound engineer, and consultant. He is also a business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In 1989, Bolas founded Fakespace Music with Mark Bolas, Ian McDowall, and Christian Greu ...

engineered and assisted with the production. It was recorded in 10 days at

Skywalker Sound Skywalker Sound is the American sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of Lucasfilm. Founded in 1975, the company's main facilities are located at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, nea ...

. All six bandmembers contributed to the songwriting; the band rented a loft space in

Central Los Angeles Central Los Angeles is the historical urban region of the city of Los Angeles, containing downtown Los Angeles, and several nearby regions in southwest Los Angeles County, California. Geographic designation by The City of Los Angeles The Los Ang ...

prior to the recording sessions so that they could jam. "God Said" criticizes the operations of televangelists. "Porcupine" denounces detaching oneself from society. "Gotcha Covered" is about life in Los Angeles.

Chad Smith Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer of the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith has played with the Chili Peppers since 1988, appearing on ten of the band's studio albums and becoming the band's lo ...

played drums on the unlisted track, a cover of "

I Fought the Law "I Fought the Law" is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and popularized by a cover by the Bobby Fuller Four, becoming a top-ten hit for the band in 1966. Their version of the song was ranked No. 175 on the ''Rolling Stone'' li ...

" that also appeared on the soundtrack to ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

''.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote that "in the key moments ... the band asserts a confident and consistent voice, shedding some of its old, distracting eclecticism in favor of a more comfortable and appealing rock 'n' roll purity." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' determined that "the album's consistency makes it more listenable, if less adventurous, with an immediacy and urgency missing from prior work." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' opined that "siren singers Julie Ritter and Gretchen Seager belt out 'Leave It Alone', a speed-metal oeuvre in which guitarists Louis Gutierrez and David King fire up the grunge." ''

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

'' said that "an occasional attempt toward mainstream rock, along with some overused themes, dooms a few tunes to mediocrity." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' deemed the album "rock with that everything-but-the-kitchen-sink vibe about it." The ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

'' concluded that "Mary's Danish is probably a great alternative-singles band, but as a collection ''American Standard'' just doesn't stand up to repeated listenings."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that "the material here is substandard in comparison to the earlier releases, and Asher's '70s-slick production style simply doesn't mesh with the post-post-punk eclecticism at the heart of the band's sound."

Track listing

References

{{authority control 1992 albums Albums produced by Peter Asher Albums produced by Niko Bolas