''Is This Real?'' is the debut studio album by the

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

-based

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Wipers, originally released on vinyl in January 1980 by Park Avenue Records. The album was reissued on CD by

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

in 1993, augmented by the three tracks from the '' Alien Boy'' EP. In 2001, it was digitally remastered by Sage and reissued again on his own Zeno Records as part of a 3-CD set, with the track list altered so that the song "Alien Boy" appeared together with the other three tracks from the ''Alien Boy'' EP, after "Wait a Minute". It was reissued on LP by Jackpot Records in 2006, remastered again from the original tapes that Sage provided to the label.

Release

Initially wanting to put it out through his own Trap Records, Sage decided to release the album through Park Avenue Records, hoping that it would give them slightly wider distribution. Before it was released, Park Avenue insisted that the band re-record the album at a professional studio, as it was originally recorded at the band's rehearsal studio on a 4-track recorder.

Initial reception

When finally released, the album was not promoted and received little attention, only developing a cult following in the band's hometown. Reviewing for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' in 1980,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

wrote,

Reappraisal & legacy

The album (and the band's music in general) gained a slightly wider audience during the early 1990s when

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

band

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

covered the songs "Return of the Rat" and "D-7" on a Wipers tribute album and the group's '' Hormoaning'' EP. A different mix of the tribute album recording appeared on the 2004 Nirvana box set ''

With the Lights Out '' With the Lights Out'' is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 23, 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. T ...

''. In 1993, Nirvana vocalist/guitarist

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

listed ''Is This Real?'', along with two other Wipers albums, in his list of 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his '' Journals''.

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John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

stated in a 1993 interview that it was one of his top 20 favorite albums. ''Is This Real?'' later came to be regarded as a classic punk rock album of the 1980s. Stephen Howell of

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 ...

, in his retrospective review, rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and stated that the production "leaves much to be desired with its tinny-sounding drums, but fortunately, the negatives don't outweigh the positives." He also said that Sage wrote "fairly simplistic songs with power chords, but each melody infects your brain like a fever" and noted that much of the album has a dark and ominous feel. In 2001, ''Spin'' ranked it the 40th most "essential" punk album of all time.

Cover versions

Apart from the aforementioned Nirvana cover, "Return of the Rat" was also covered by

Bored! Bored (stylised as Bored!) were an Australian punk band formed in Geelong in 1987. The original line-up was Grant Gardner on bass guitar, Adrian Hann on keyboards, Justin Munday on drums, John Nolan on guitar (ex-Behind the Magnolia Curtain) and ...

on their album ''Scuzz''. The track "Mystery" was covered by numerous bands including Eagulls, JEFF the Brotherhood, Shellshag, Rose Melberg, and Meat Wave. "Up Front" was covered by

Poison Idea Poison Idea was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1980. History Formation, 1980s, and 1990s Poison Idea was formed in 1980 by vocalist Jerry A. (aka Jerry Lang). The initial lineup consisted of Jerry A., Chris Ten ...

and

Corin Tucker Corin Lisa Tucker (born November 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously record ...

, "Potential Suicide" by Napalm Beach, and "Wait A Minute" by My Vitriol.

Track listing

Personnel

* Greg Sage –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Dave Koupal –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Sam Henry –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Production * Greg Sage – producer * Bob Stoutenberg –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

* Mark Heim; Mike King – cover art * Jay Elliot – sleeve art

References

{{Authority control 1980 debut albums Wipers (band) albums Sub Pop albums