''Cunning Stunts'' is the fifth studio album by the Minneapolis-based noise rock band

Cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

, released in 1992 by

Amphetamine Reptile Records Amphetamine Reptile Records (or AmRep Industries) is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released ''Strap It On ''Strap It On'' is the debut studio album by Amer ...

. It was their first album where they began developing real melodies and patterns instead of their usual blasts of noise. The switch to producer

Iain Burgess Iain Burgess (24 November 1953 – 11 February 2010) was an English record producer and audio engineer. He helped define the sound of the Chicago post-punk music scene in the 1980s and early 1990s. Burgess worked with a number of key underground ...

brought an increase in sound quality from previous albums. It was long since out print; however, MVD Audio reissued and distributed the album on CD and a limited edition "Blue Opaque" vinyl LP in 2016. The title is a

spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence of speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words of a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and priest William Archibald Spooner, who report ...

of the term "stunning

cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...

s". The band

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used this title for their 1975 album. The album cover design alludes to the

Reid Miles Reid Miles (July 4, 1927 – February 2, 1993) was an American graphic designer and photographer best known for his work for Blue Note Records in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Miles was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 4, 1927, but, follow ...

designed cover of

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...

's 1964 album ''

Out to Lunch! ''Out to Lunch!'' is a 1964 album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. His only recording on Blue Note as a leader, it was issued as BLP 4163 and BST 84163. Featuring Dolphy in a quintet with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, vibraphonist Bo ...

'' The band supported the album with a North American tour.

Critical reception

The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' wrote that "the music is jarring and

hannon Hannan and Hannon are Irish surnames. People People with the surname Hannan or Hannon include: * Albert James Hannan (1887–1965), South Australian Crown Solicitor * Brian Hannon (1936–2022), Church of Ireland clergyman * Chick Hannan (1901� ...

Selberg's howling is initially user-unfriendly, yet his disturbed lyrics are undeniable." The ''

Lancaster New Era LNP Media Group owns and publishes '' LNP'', a daily newspaper based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and ''LancasterOnline'', its online affiliate with monthly readership of over one million. ''LNP'' traces its roots to ''The Lancaster Journa ...

'' listed ''Cunning Stunts'' as one of 1992's best albums, deeming it "truly, truly demented and truly, truly beautiful." In 1999, ''

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

'' included it on a list of Amphetamine Reptile's greatest albums; it was also given an honorable mention in an article about the best Minneapolis albums of the 1990s.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Cunning Stunts'' liner notes. ;Cows * Thor Eisentrager – guitar * Norm Rogers – drums *

Kevin Rutmanis Kevin Rutmanis (born October 17, 1958) is an American bass guitarist. He is of Latvian descent. Before getting into music, he was a student teacher. In late 1985, along with his younger brother Sandris Rutmanis, Thor Eisentrager, and then Jayh ...

– bass guitar *

Shannon Selberg Shannon Scott Selberg (born June 3, 1960) is a noise/punk rock musician known for his unusual antics on stage. Formerly the frontman for the Minneapolis-based group The Cows, Selberg provided lead vocals, trumpet, bugle and hardcore guitar.Robbi ...

– vocals, bugle ;Production and additional personnel *

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

* Günter Pauler – mastering

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cows (band) albums 1992 albums Amphetamine Reptile Records albums Albums produced by Iain Burgess