Possum Dixon (album) explained

Possum Dixon
Type:studio
Artist:Possum Dixon
Cover:Possum Dixon (album).jpg
Released:1993
Studio:
  • 23 North
  • Mankey Business
Length:31:41
Label:Interscope[1]
Producer:Earle Mankey, Possum Dixon
Prev Title:Apartment Music
Prev Year:1992
Next Title:Sunshine or Noir?
Next Year:1995

Possum Dixon is the debut album by the American band Possum Dixon, released in 1993.[2] [3] The first single, "Watch the Girl Destroy Me", was a minor hit.[4] [5]

The band promoted the album by touring with the Dead Milkmen and Violent Femmes, among others.[6] [7] The album had sold more than 31,000 copies by the end of the 1990s.[8]

Production

The album was produced by Earle Mankey and Possum Dixon, with Mankey encouraging the band to use older instruments in the studio.[9] [10] Some songs from the band's early releases were rerecorded for Possum Dixon.[11]

Robert Levine noted in the Los Angeles Times that the album contained "dark tales of everyday life in the working world with a hard-hitting power-pop sound that makes the edgy frustration catchy."[12] "Nerves" is about low-paying work, while "Executive Slacks" is about bosses.[12] [13] All of the songs were written by frontman Rob Zabrecky, on his own or with other members of the band.

Critical reception

In Trouser Press, Robert Levine wrote that, though Zabrecky "sometimes takes his twentysomething angst too seriously, 'Nerves' and other numbers do a fair job of capturing what it's like to be young, poor and alienated in the City of Angels."[14] Steve Hochman of the Los Angeles Times opined, "Throw skinny ties on these guys and it'd be just a tad too close to new-wave redux," but admired "the propulsive energy" of the album.[15] Alex Hecht of the Houston Press deemed the album "catchy party rock music with nerdy vocals telling funny stories about girls and other nervous habits."[16]

Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post determined that "songs such as 'In Buildings' and 'She Drives', in which singer, bassist and songwriter Robert Zabrecky tempers his attitude and record-collector erudition with a solid melody and a steady beat, are as rollicking as the work of much dumber bands."[17] James Muretich of the Calgary Herald praised the "punkish energy [and] irreverence." Scott Bacon of The Indianapolis Star stated that the guitarists shuffle "easily through a diversity of styles—be it ska, surf or just good ol' jangly guitar rock."

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[18]

Possum Dixon

Technical

Notes and References

  1. News: Reassessing the Labels After a Record Year . Goldstein . Patrick . Patrick Goldstein . . January 16, 1994 . Calendar . 57.
  2. Web site: Possum Dixon Biography, Songs, & Albums . AllMusic.
  3. News: Loop . Dwight . Possum Dixon: Band Aims to Make People Dance . . January 28, 1994 . Pasatiempo . 10.
  4. News: Weatherford . Mike . The Hobnob Lounge . . October 8, 1993 . 2E.
  5. Web site: R.I.P. Celso Chavez of Possum Dixon . Pelly . Jenn . May 15, 2012 . Pitchfork.
  6. News: Aerosmith, Sting Book Orlando Dates . Abbott . Jim . . December 17, 1993 . Calendar . 4.
  7. News: Sherr . Sara . Violent Femmes/Possum Dixon . . November 11, 1994 . Features Weekend . 15.
  8. Interscope's Possum Dixon Gather Acclaim . Reece . Doug . . July 18, 1998 . 110 . 29 . 17.
  9. Book: The Encyclopedia of Record Producers . 1999 . Billboard Books . 499–500.
  10. News: Copley . Rich . Possum Dixon Makes Raw Stage Performance . . January 20, 1994 . Applause . 6.
  11. News: Putting 'Retro' to Rest . Appleford . Steve . . December 24, 1993 . Valley Life . 7.
  12. News: Possum Dixon Hitting 'Nerves' . Levine . Robert . . February 12, 1994 . Calendar . 1.
  13. News: Schulman . Sandra . Band on the run to success . . November 21, 1993 . 3F.
  14. Web site: Possum Dixon . Levine . Robert . . May 24, 2022.
  15. News: Hochman . Steve . Cream of the Local Scene . . November 28, 1993 . Calendar . 58.
  16. News: Picks . Hecht . Alex . . December 4, 1993 . Night & Day.
  17. News: Playing Possum: Use Your Allusion . Jenkins . Mark . . January 7, 1994 . N10.
  18. Possum Dixon . . 1993 . . CD liner notes . 7 92291-2.