| Tracey Denim | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Bar Italia |
| Cover: | Bar Italia - Tracey Denim.jpg |
| Alt: | A very grainy black and white photo of the band seated at a table |
| Language: | English |
| Label: | Matador |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | eartH CD-R |
| Prev Year: | 2022 |
| Next Title: | The Twits |
| Next Year: | 2023 |
Tracey Denim is the third full-length studio album by British alternative rock band Bar Italia, released by Matador Records on 19 May, 2023. It has received positive reviews from critics.
Editors of AnyDecentMusic? scored this album a 7.4 out of 10, based on 14 reviews. Tracey Denim received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 12 reviews.
Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4 out of 5 stars, with critic Heather Phares writing that "it's an album that's complex enough for fans of the band's previous work, and just welcoming enough for a wider audience". Phillip Pyle of Clash Music gave this album a 9 out of 10 for lyrics that create rich mental images, a range of emotions, and being able to unravel "unravels sprawling and playful, yet concerted, development of [the band's] sound". At The Line of Best Fit, Joe Creely rated this an 8 out of 10, calling it "an album that feels like a self-contained world without losing sight of songs that really work in and of themselves" that is "a natural development from the trio and one that points to an exciting future". For Loud and Quiet, Sam Walton rated Tracey Denim a 7 out of 10, stating that "despite working fairly tightly within the confines of idiomatic post-punk throughout, it doesn’t really sound like anything else in that bracket". With 3 stars out of 5 in Mojo, Stevie Chick praised the "terse honesty" of the band's lyrics and writes that this release sees "no monkeying with the formula: bedsit pop enervated by minor-key guitar chugs and sparse synths which are often over before you've unravelled their riddles".
Erica Campbell of NME rated this work 4 out of 5 stars, with "15 impressively arranged tracks" that "chart a promising and imaginative course with their first release on Matador Records". No Ripcords Juan Edgardo Rodriguez scored Tracey Denim a 7 out of 10 calling it a work that "mostly screams avant-garde in its minimalism, sometimes to its detriment". Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork gave this album a 6.9 out of 10, characterizing it as a "moody, moth-eaten record-collector rock that gets by on moody insouciance" and "a finely calibrated tribute to the evergreen sounds that have fueled underground rock for decades". Zara Hedderman of The Quietus writes that "thematically, Tracey Denim vacillates between the desire to “lose control”, navigating new realities... and the ensuing fear of what will happen in the process of letting someone go, of being alone... particularly [in the] excellent closing suite of songs". Patrick Gamble of The Skinny called this release "complex and seductive, without ever feeling pretentious", rating it 4 out of 5 stars. Editors at Stereogum chose this for Album of the Week, with critic Ted Davis remarking that "the album contains multitudes" and recommends that if listeners want to understand the elusive band, "it all comes down to getting lost in Tracey Denim’s wonderfully understated racket".
Mojo ranked this the 69th best album of 2023. Gorilla vs. Bear rated this the 17th best album of 2023. Editors at The Fader chose this as the 48th best album of the year. Editors at Clash Music listed this the 41st best albums of the year. Editors at AllMusic included this on their list of favorite alternative and indie albums of 2023. This was included in the 40 best independent albums of 2023 in BrooklynVegans Indie Basement, along with follow-up The Twits. Critics at Rolling Stone included this among the 40 best indie rock albums of 2023. At Under the Radar, this was rated the 97th best album of 2023.
Bar Italia
Additional personnel