| No Way to Treat an Animal | |
| Type: | EP |
| Artist: | Spacey Jane |
| Cover: | NoWaytoTreatanAnimal.jpg |
| Alt: | A young smiling boy is pictured thrown in the air by a set of adult hands. Flowers and petals sit atop the image, as well as a second cut-out of the boy in the same position. The sky behind the boy is bright blue and a tree is in the distance. At the top left is the album name in black capital letters along with the artist name. |
| Released: | 16 November 2017 |
| Studio: | Poons Head, East Fremantle |
| Genre: | |
| Next Title: | In the Slight |
| Next Year: | 2018 |
| Chronology: | Spacey Jane |
No Way to Treat an Animal is the debut extended play (EP) by Australian indie rock band Spacey Jane, which was issued independently on 16 November 2017. It was predominantly produced by Rob Grant in East Fremantle. Supported by the band's debut single "Still Running" and their breakthrough hit "Feeding the Family", the EP peaked at number 23 on the ARIA Charts in December 2020, three years after its release.
While in high school, Caleb Harper and Kieran Lama from Geraldton played in a grunge band called Sicchino. They met Ashton Hardman Le-Cornu and Amelia Murray in 2016 while studying in Perth, and the four formed Spacey Jane.[3] The band played at local venues very regularly, performing around "one or two shows a week for a good year and a half."[4]
The bulk of recording and mastering from No Way to Treat an Animal was done at Poons Head in East Fremantle with Rob Grant. "Still Running" was originally a Sicchino song, and was produced and mixed over the space of nearly two years, with band members in and out for travel.[5]
In an interview with Perth-based music publication Pilerats, Harper said the EP is "mostly a reflection on experiences, from childhood through to young adulthood – things like breakups or growing up in church, and how they shape identity."[6]
On 18 August 2017, Spacey Jane released their debut single "Still Running" at Mojos Bar in Fremantle. At the same venue on 29 September, "Feeding the Family" was released.[7] [8] Just five days before the EP's release, on 11 November, the third and final single "Thrills" was premiered on Perth community station RTRFM.[9]
Spacey Jane would later win the annual Needle In The Hay Australian music competition for "Thrills", with a limited-run vinyl pressing and music video released as the prize.[10] The band held a launch party for the EP at The Bird, a bar in Perth, on 16 November 2017, with supporting performances by Carla Geneve and Childsaint.[11] No Way to Treat an Animal was issued digitally and on a limited run of CDs, and was pressed to LP vinyl in 2020.[12]
The title of the EP is derived from Kurt Vonnegut's autobiography A Man Without a Country, which writes "Life is no way to treat an animal. Not even a mouse." Fremantle-based visual artist Alice Ford designed the cover art as well as promotional posters for its release.[13]
Australian music publication Pilerats called No Way to Treat an Animal a "garage-pop odyssey that sounds crisp as hell," and "one of the year's best local EP releases." Nathan Robert, writing for the same website four years later, praised its singles that "disregard psychedelic sensibilities and pay homage to a cleaner, harder rock sound."[14] Writing for Happy Mag, Freya McGahey said "Still Running" was "impressive and impeccably crafted," pulling off "clarity of tone and sharp lyricism with perfection." She praised the band for "hav[ing] integrated a bold indie pop sound with their own raw Australian top coat."
Gareth Bryant writing for online publication Scenestr commended "Feeding the Family" as a "sensational ear-worm with an infectious riff."[15] The track was also ranked number 44 on Perth station RTRFM's 2022 listener poll ranking the 45 greatest songs from Western Australia.[16] Online magazine Eat Your Water called the EP an "immediate radio success."[17]
Credits adapted from Bandcamp.
Musicians
Additional personnel