''Shock Me'' is an EP by American

slowcore Slowcore, also known as sadcore, is a subgenre of indie rock characterised by its subdued tempos, minimalist instrumentation, and sombre vocal performances. Slowcore's influences are diverse, involving varying other genres, including folk rock ...

band

Red House Painters Red House Painters were an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988, before relocating to San Francisco, California in 1989. Originally formed by singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek and drummer Anthony Koutsos, the pair were soon joine ...

. It was released in the UK only in 1994 on CD and 12" vinyl by record label

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

Recording

''Shock Me'' was recorded and mixed at Coast Recorders, San Francisco in 1993. Additional recording took place at Razor's Edge, also in San Francisco.

Content

The EP contains two versions of the song "

Shock Me "Shock Me" is a song by American rock band Kiss that first appeared on their 1977 album ''Love Gun''. It was written by lead guitarist Ace Frehley, who made his lead vocal debut with the track. The song was inspired by an event that took place du ...

," a

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

cover. The EP went out of print shortly after its initial release. The tracks later surfaced on the reissued edition of ''

Red House Painters (Bridge) ''Red House Painters'' (also known as ''Bridge'' or ''Red House Painters II'' to distinguish it from the first eponymous album, also known as ''Rollercoaster'' or ''Red House Painters I'') is the third album by the group Red House Painters, rel ...

'', released in 1999. The "untitled instrumental" hidden track is actually an instrumental version of "A Million + 8 Things", a song from the early Red House Painters demo tapes originally recorded sometime between 1989 and 1992. A version of the song containing its original lyrics has never seen an official release.

Reception

In his retrospective review, Dean Carlson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote: "this mid-career EP displays a confident, introspective Red House Painters seemingly influenced by a parallel world where

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridg ...

shoegazed it up with

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a comedy film by Millicen ...

or Chapterhouse. Somehow, it's quietly splendid."

Track listing

Release history

Personnel

; Additional personnel * Carla Fabrizio * Dan Barbee * Larry Ragent ; Technical *

Simon Larbalestier Simon Larbalestier (born 1962 in Pembrokeshire) is a Welsh photographer. Larbalestier is noted for his collaborative work with Vaughan Oliver and the design studios 23 Envelope and v23 with whom he has provided photography used on the album artwo ...

– sleeve images

References

{{Authority control Red House Painters albums 1994 EPs 4AD EPs Albums produced by Mark Kozelek