| Big Walnuts Yonder | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Big Walnuts Yonder |
| Cover: | Big Walnuts Yonder (Album).jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | May 5, 2017[1] |
| Recorded: | July 12–14, 2014 |
| Studio: | Studio G Brooklyn[2] |
| Genre: | Indie rock |
| Length: | [3] |
| Label: | Sargent House |
Big Walnuts Yonder is an indie rock album released in 2017 by the eponymous supergroup. Big Walnuts Yonder consists of bassist/vocalist Mike Watt from Minutemen, guitarist Nels Cline from Wilco, drummer Greg Saunier from Deerhoof, and guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart from Tera Melos.[4]
The album was recorded in three days during the summer of 2014 in Brooklyn, New York City,[5] live with very limited overdubs[6] and produced by Tony Maimone.[7] Months later vocals were added with Reinhart handling seven and Watt performing two.[6] Watt provided most of material by sharing rough versions of his compositions, or "launchpads" as he calls them,[1] played on bass.[8] On these tracks guitar was added after Watt's basslines, something that initially intimidated Reinhart[9] but Cline was familiar with the method of composing having worked this way before with Watt on Contemplating the Engine Room.[9] Cline and Saunier each contributed a track of their own.[10]
Raymond Pettibon created the album art.[2]
Under the Radar's Dustin Krcatovich's compared it to a "modern take on classic Beefheart" and praised the musicians ability to "combine weirdo prog-level precision and classic SST freakcore abandon"[11] The Spill Magazine's Ljubinko Zivkovic gave it three out of five stars and called it "a mixed bag with some stellar moments." Justin Cober-Lake of Dusted praised the musicianship calling it "unsurprisingly unpredictable".[12] Scott A. Gray of Exclaim! found some of the tracks indulgent but ultimately found "the majority of Big Walnuts Yonder is fantastic."