''Delaware'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Drop Nineteens Drop Nineteens is an American shoegaze band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1990. The band was formed by Boston University classmates Greg Ackell (vocals, guitar) and Chris Roof (drums), who recruited Paula Kelley (vocals, guitar), Motohi ...

. It was released on June 19, 1992, by

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label that was founded in 1973. Founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976 and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label rel ...

Hut Records VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite being wholly owned by a major label, it was classed as an independent label for the purposes ...

issued the album, along with the single "Winona", in the United Kingdom the same year. On April 20, 2009, ''Delaware'' was reissued by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

with four bonus tracks from the band's 1992 EP ''Your Aquarium''.

Artwork

The artwork for ''Delaware'' features a young girl holding a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

in front of a barber shop. When the album was reissued in 2024, the band chose to replace the revolver in the image with a flower because of the prevalence of

gun violence in the United States Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States. In 2016, a U.S. male aged 15–24 was 70 times more likely ...

, donating a portion of its sales to the Artist for Action charity. Additionally, the band's friend Phil, who was mentioned in the song "Kick the Tragedy", died from a gun-related incident.

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' noted that the band's "use of atonal chords, excessive distortion and mumbled non sequiturs can be traced back to

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

's 1988 album ''

Daydream Nation ''Daydream Nation'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, and it was released by ...

''." In 2016, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked ''Delaware'' at number 45 on its list of the 50 best

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

albums of all time.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Drop Nineteens * Greg Ackell – guitar, vocals * Paula Kelley – vocals, guitar * Chris Roof – drums * Motohiro Yasue – guitar * Steve Zimmerman – bass Production * Vincent Buckholtz II – mixing,

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 ...

(assistant) * Paul Degooyer –

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 ...

, mixing, recording * Drop Nineteens – production * Dave Snider – recording * Jennifer Spaziani – mixing (assistant) * Jeff Way – mixing (assistant) Design * Petrisse Brièl – photography * Ellie Hughes – design * Tom Hughes – design * Turlach MacDonagh – photography

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 debut albums Drop Nineteens albums Caroline Records albums Hut Records albums