"Stutter" is the debut single by the

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

group

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex-Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times, ...

and was written by lead singer

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. She was the lead singer of the Britpop band Elastica after forming Suede, before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as a painter ...

. It was originally released as a single in the UK in November 1993 and in the US in September 1994. The song was later included on the band's 1995 self-titled debut album. The single, which received positive reviews from critics, charted in the US and Canada.

Background

"Stutter" was written by Elastica's lead singer, Justine Frischmann. The song is a little over two minutes long and contains just two verses and two choruses because Frischmann thought that any more would be unnecessary.Bennett, Andy and Stratton, Jon.
Britpop and the English Music Tradition
' (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010), pp. 60-61. The lyrics are about "the occasional problem of drunken male impotence."

Release

"Stutter" was first released in November 1993 for the independent

Deceptive Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight ...

label. It was released initially as a 7" only and sold out within one day. Although it was a limited edition of only 1,500 pressings, the single generated enormous media exposure for the band: based solely on the strength of it, Elastica was voted Best New Band in the year's-end Readers Poll in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

''. To avoid overexposure, the song was deliberately not worked into North American radio until later in 1995, after which it charted in both the US and Canada. "Stutter" was included as the 14th track on Elastica's 1995 self-titled debut album, and it was also included on the 2002 20th Century Masters collection, ''Best of Brit Pop''.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. '' Spin'' wrote that " he single''Stutter'' delivers four brilliant pop songs". In a review of the band’s self-titled album,

Douglas Wolk Douglas Wolk (born 1970) is a Portland, Oregon-based author and critic. He has written about comics and popular music for publications including ''The New York Times'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Washington Post'', ''The Nation'', ''The New Republ ...

of ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' wrote: "Elastica's best moments are all on its own, especially the astonishing single 'Stutter. Writing for ''

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'',

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

included "Stutter" in his Critic's Choice list, writing: "It may be a stretch, but this indie quartet is best described as a better-natured

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

. Both acts feature sassy fronting females, impatient melodies, and gritty guitar riffs. The energetic tone here, however, is uplifting-not brooding. Equally interesting is the flip side, 'Pussycat'." In 2012, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' ranked the song at number 53 in its list of the "100 Best Tracks of the Nineties".

Chart performance

The single peaked at No. 80 in the UK in November 1993. In the US, "Stutter" stayed on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for nine weeks, peaking at No. 67 on August 26, 1995. It also went to No. 10 on the ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart on August 12. In Canada, the song peaked at No. 4 on the Alternative chart on August 14.

Music video

The song's music video, which was directed by David Mould, was filmed in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and aired regularly on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in 1995. It features the band members playfully meandering from

Grant Avenue Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the Nort ...

in Chinatown to the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

stretch of strip clubs and other adult businesses.

Track list

UK 7" # "Stutter" # "Pussycat" US CD single"Stutter/Rockunroll - Elastica"
allmusic.com. Retrieved 7 June 2011. # "Stutter" # "Rockunroll" (Peel Session) # "2:1" (Evening Session) # "Annie" (Peel Session)

Charts

References

External links

* {{Elastica 1993 debut singles Elastica songs Songs written by Justine Frischmann 1993 songs