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''Get Fired'' is the debut album by the
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-based
pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
band the
Smoking Popes Smoking Popes is an American pop punk band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. They are composed of brothers Matt Caterer (bass), Josh Caterer (lead vocals/guitar) and Eli Caterer (guitar/backing vocals) and Mike Felumlee (drums). Histo ...
, released in 1993 by
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. It was recorded in 1993 at Sonic Iguana Studios in
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with
recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...
Mass Giorgini Massimiliano Adelmo Giorgini (born 1968) is an American bassist and record producer who rose to fame when several of the bands he produced experienced huge gains in popularity during the pop-punk boom of the mid-'90s. Among these bands was Giorg ...
. The raw production and
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
sound of the album are in contrast to the higher production values and more
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
-leaning sound of the band's later works. Tim DiGravina of
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gave ''Get Fired'' three stars out of five, calling it "a fine document of a great, somewhat under appreciated band that would later scale higher peaks." He calls "That's Where I Come In" "the real gem" of the album: "It revolves around a brilliant hook and a sadly sweet motif of a girlfriend who just wants 'to be somebody's baby.' Vocalist Josh Caterer sounds morose and overjoyed at the same time, happy to be with a girl he loves, but unhappy that where he comes in is as a crutch." DiGravina also notes "Off My Mind" and "Days Just Wave Goodbye" as more aggressive tracks than the band's usual material, comparing the former to the
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
and the latter to
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and
Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...
. The Smoking Popes re-recorded the songs "Let's Hear It for Love" and "Can't Find It" for their 1997 album '' Destination Failure''. Remarking on the differences between the recordings, DiGravina notes that the ''Get Fired'' version of "Can't Find It" is faster and that "It's hard to say which version of the song is better; this raw, punk sounding recording or the more-produced version which was to come." All nine tracks from ''Get Fired'' were reissued on the
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
''1991–1998'' in 1999, the original album having gone out of print. Reviewing the compilation, Ari Wiznitzer remarked that ''Get Fired'' demonstrated growth in Josh Caterer's songwriting and guitar playing, citing "Let's Hear It for Love" as an example: "Tracks like these are the Smoking Popes at their best, as Josh Caterer's smooth vocals slide effortlessly over the band's distorted canvas." Several of the songs from ''Get Fired'' were
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by other artists for the 2003 '' Smoking Popes Tribute'' album. Death on Wednesday covered "Let Them Die", former Smoking Popes drummer Mike Felumlee performed "Don't Be Afraid", Notaword covered "Off My Mind", and
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contributed a version of "Days Just Wave Goodbye".
Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago. The band's current members are Matt Skiba (guitar, vocals), Dan Andriano (bass, vocals), and Atom Willard (drums). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Por ...
also covered "Off My Mind" for a split single with the Smoking Popes in 2006. In 2009
Asian Man Records Asian Man Records is a DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established in May 1996. History Asian Man ...
announced plans to reissue a
remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...
version of ''Get Fired''. It was remastered by Carl Saff and released on October 12, 2010.


Track listing


Personnel


Band

* Josh Caterer
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
*Eli Caterer – guitar *Matt Caterer –
bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
* Mike Felumlee
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...


Production

*
Mass Giorgini Massimiliano Adelmo Giorgini (born 1968) is an American bassist and record producer who rose to fame when several of the bands he produced experienced huge gains in popularity during the pop-punk boom of the mid-'90s. Among these bands was Giorg ...
recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...
*Carl Saff – remastering (2010 re-release)


References


External links

*
Get Fired
' at the official Smoking Popes website, including song lyrics. {{Authority control Smoking Popes EPs 1993 debut albums