Back in Denim

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Back in Denim
Studio album by
Denim
Released11 November 1992
RecordedMay 1990–July 1992
StudioBark, RAK, Abbey Road, London
GenreGlam rock, pop
Length49:51
LabelBoy's Own Recordings
ProducerJohn Leckie, Brian O'Shaughnessy
Denim chronology
Back in Denim
(1992) 		Denim on Ice
(1996)

Back in Denim is the debut album by British rock band Denim.

Background[edit]

British rock band Felt broke-up in 1989,[1] while frontman Lawrence had been living in Brighton.[2] Finding Brighton to be unpleasant,[2] he moved to New York in early 1990.[3] Lawrence soon started to reminisce about his childhood in the 1970s.[2] He proceeded to visit a pawn shop and buy a guitar, which he would use to compose Back in Denim.[2] He eventually grew homesick and soon moved to London.[3] Lawrence formed Denim with a variety of "session men and ageing glitter-rockers", several of whom were members of The Glitter Band.[4] Lawrence had been receiving calls from major labels,[2] but decided to sign with dance-oriented record label Boy's Own Recordings, who had signed a distribution deal with London Records.[3] His decision to sign with them was based on his notion that "rock music was finished, and DJs could get our records into the charts."[2]

Production and composition[edit]

While Felt's albums were recorded with a minuscule budget for small independent labels, Lawrence had "the chance to make the album I'd always wanted" for a major label.[3] Between May 1990 and July 1992, Back in Denim was recorded and mixed with producer John Leckie.[3][nb 1] At one point, Lawrence was banned from the studio and had pushed Leckie to breaking point, which resulted in him exclaiming: "I've worked with Phil Spector and John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but I can't take this any more. You're madder than any of them."[3] Eventually, before threatening to disown the recordings, he finished the proceedings with Brian O'Shaughnessy.[3] The amount of money that went into making the album had made Boy's Own Recordings go bankrupt.[2]

The album's sound has been described as glam rock[6][7] and pop.[8] Tim Sendra of AllMusic claimed that for Back in Denim, Lawrence "channeled his love of simple punk, huge hooks, novelty songs, and slagging everyone".[1] Mojo review Roy Wilkinson commented that the album's "wistful examination of Britain and knowing adoption of pop styles from other eras" laid the groundwork for Britpop.[3] The album was complete with "glam and pop hooks machined to perfection with the best in 1990s recording science".[3] "Middle of the Road" features a sample of Middle of the Road's version of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep".[1]

Release and reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
The Guardian[8]
Stylus MagazineA[10]
Trouser PressFavourable[11]

It was released in November 1992[3] on Boy's Own Recordings.[9] London Records wanted to release the album's title track as a single, but Lawrence requested to re-record the song's chorus, to which London Records cut funding for further studio time.[3] "Middle of the Road" was released as a single, with the B-sides "Ape Hangers", "Robin's Nest", and an instrumental version of "Ape Hangers" titled "The Great Grape Ape-Hangers",[12] in January 1993.

The album was received well by critics but was commercially poor.[13] In retrospect, Lawrence commented "The tills were closed. [...] This was my masterpiece and I would fight to death to get it right. If that meant it was going to end up selling 25 copies, then that was the way it had to be."[3] The album was reissued in May 2006 on West Midland's Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red. Norwegian band Turbonegro covered "Back in Denim" as a bonus track at 2007 album Retox.

In 2017, Pitchfork ranked Back in Denim at number 50 in their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".[14]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written by Lawrence.

  1. "Back in Denim" – 3:59
  2. "Fish and Chips" – 3:17
  3. "Bubblehead" – 4:43
  4. "Middle of the Road" – 4:12
  5. "The Osmonds" – 8:08
  6. "I Saw the Glitter on Your Face" – 3:34
  7. "American Rock" – 6:26
  8. "Livin' on the Streets" – 4:31
  9. "Here Is My Song for Europe" – 3:41
  10. "I'm Against the Eighties" – 7:20

References[edit]

Footnotes
  1. ^ Lawrence had worked with Leckie previously on Felt's The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories (1984), which Leckie produced and engineered.[5]
Citations
  1. ^ a b c Sendra, Tim (11 April 2013). "AllMusic Playlist: Britpop". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Hodgkinson, Will (21 October 2010). "Denim: Britpop's less successful fabric". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wilkinson 2005, p. 122
  4. ^ Buckley, ed. 2003, p. 369
  5. ^ The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories (Sleeve). Felt. Cherry Red. 1984. B-RED 63.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Phares, Heather. "Denim on Ice". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  7. ^ Petridis, Alexis (21 June 2012). "Go Kart Mozart: Go Kart Mozart Are On the Hot Dog Streets – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  8. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (21 April 2006). "Guardian Unlimited Arts - - Denim, Back in Denim". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  9. ^ a b Hage, Erik. "Back in Denim". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Denim - Back in Denim - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  11. ^ "TrouserPress.com :: Denim". trouserpress.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Middle of the Road - Denim | Release Info". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  13. ^ Biography by Mark Deming (31 August 1997). "Denim | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  14. ^ Barlow, Eve (29 March 2017). "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
Sources

External links[edit]

Back in Denim at MusicBrainz (list of releases)

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