| The Known Universe | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Ass Ponys |
| Cover: | File:AssPonys_Universe.jpg |
| Released: | April 1996 |
| Genre: | Indie rock |
| Label: | A&M |
| Producer: | John Curley |
| Prev Title: | Electric Rock Music |
| Prev Year: | 1994 |
| Next Title: | Some Stupid with a Flare Gun |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
The Known Universe is the fourth studio album by Cincinnati-based indie rock band Ass Ponys, released in April 1996 on A&M Records. It was the band's second album for A&M (after 1994's Electric Rock Music), and was produced by the Afghan Whigs' John Curley.[1]
The Known Universe received favorable reviews from Spin, Rolling Stone, and Details upon its release.[2] Trouser Press Vickie Gilmer, however, was less favorable, writing of the album that "Sounding like slapdash country kin of the Barenaked Ladies, the Ass Ponys retread familiar soil, relying on exhausted film jokes ("God Tells Me To") and mild outrage ("Cancer Show"), all the while belaboring clichés like "I could rule the world if..." (a self-mocking line Tin Huey used to better effect fifteen years earlier) and real-life oddities like the oft-derided "Satin lives in hell" graffiti."[3]
All songs written by Bill Alletzhauser, Randy Cheek, Chuck Cleaver, and David Morrison, except where noted.