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''Is This Real?'' is the debut studio album by the
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
-based punk rock band Wipers, originally released on vinyl in January 1980 by Park Avenue Records. The album was reissued on CD by
Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...
in 1993, augmented by the three tracks from the ''
Alien Boy "Alien Boy" is the seventh song on the first Wipers album, ''Is This Real?'' (Park Avenue Records), released in 1980. ''Alien Boy'' is also the title of a 1980 Wipers EP, with "Alien Boy" on side A, and three outtakes from the ''Is This Real?'' ...
'' EP. In 2001, it was digitally remastered by Sage and reissued again on his own Zeno Records as part of a 3-CD set, with the track list altered so that the song "Alien Boy" appeared together with the other three tracks from the ''Alien Boy'' EP, after "Wait a Minute". It was reissued on LP by Jackpot Records in 2006, remastered again from the original tapes that Sage provided to the label.


Release

Initially wanting to put it out through his own Trap Records, Sage decided to release the album through Park Avenue Records, hoping that it would give them slightly wider distribution. Before it was released, Park Avenue insisted that the band re-record the album at a professional studio, as it was originally recorded at the band's rehearsal studio on a 4-track recorder.


Initial reception

When finally released, the album was not promoted and received little attention, only developing a cult following in the band's hometown. Reviewing for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' in 1980,
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote,


Reappraisal & legacy

The album (and the band's music in general) gained a slightly wider audience during the early 1990s when grunge band
Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...
covered the songs "Return of the Rat" and "D-7" on a Wipers tribute album and the group's ''
Hormoaning ''Hormoaning'' is an EP by the American rock band Nirvana. It was released on January 27, 1992 through DGC Records and Geffen Records. It was released in Australia and Japan only, during the band's tour there. Songs Four of the songs on ''Hormo ...
'' EP. A different mix of the tribute album recording appeared on the 2004 Nirvana box set ''
With the Lights Out ''With the Lights Out'' is a box set by the American rock band Nirvana released in November 2004. It contains three CDs and one DVD of previously rare or unreleased material, including B-sides, demos, and rehearsal and live recordings. The titl ...
''. In 1993, Nirvana vocalist/guitarist Kurt Cobain listed ''Is This Real?'', along with two other Wipers albums, in his list of 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his '' Journals''.
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
stated in a 1993 interview that it was one of his top 20 favorite albums. ''Is This Real?'' later came to be regarded as a classic punk rock album of the 1980s. Stephen Howell of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
, in his retrospective review, rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and stated that the production "leaves much to be desired with its tinny-sounding drums, but fortunately, the negatives don't outweigh the positives." He also said that Sage wrote "fairly simplistic songs with power chords, but each melody infects your brain like a fever" and noted that much of the album has a dark and ominous feel. In 2001, ''Spin'' ranked it the 40th most "essential" punk album of all time.


Cover versions

Apart from the aforementioned Nirvana cover, "Return of the Rat" was also covered by
Bored! Bored (stylised as Bored!) were an Australian punk band formed in Geelong in 1987. The original line-up was Grant Gardner on bass guitar, Adrian Hann on keyboards, Justin Munday on drums, John Nolan on guitar (ex-Behind the Magnolia Curtain) and ...
on their album ''Scuzz''. The track "Mystery" was covered by numerous bands including
Eagulls Eagulls were an English rock band, formed in Leeds in 2009. The band consisted of Mark Goldsworthy (guitar), Henry Ruddel (drums), Liam Matthews (guitar), Tom Kelly (bass), and George Mitchell (vocals). History Eagulls were formed in 2009 and ...
,
JEFF the Brotherhood JEFF the Brotherhood is an American two-piece rock band consisting of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, hailing from Nashville, Tennessee. Their style has been described by music writers as containing elements of psychedelic rock, garage rock, pu ...
, Shellshag,
Rose Melberg Rose Melberg is a musician and songwriter from Sacramento, California, currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has performed both as a solo artist and as a member of Tiger Trap, The Softies, Go Sailor, Gaze, Gigi, Imaginar ...
, and Meat Wave. "Up Front" was covered by
Poison Idea Poison Idea was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1980. History Formation, 1980s, and 1990s Poison Idea was formed in 1980 by vocalist Jerry A. (aka Jerry Lang). The initial lineup consisted of Jerry A., Chris Te ...
and
Corin Tucker Corin Lisa Tucker (born November 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously recorde ...
, "Potential Suicide" by
Napalm Beach Napalm Beach is an American rock band formed in Portland, Oregon. They are considered early innovators of the grunge sound. Nicholas Pell, writing for the ''Portland Mercury'' said "a huge influence on the grunge and alternative rock of the 1990s ...
, and "Wait A Minute" by
My Vitriol My Vitriol are a British alternative rock band, formed in 1999 in London. The band currently comprises singer and guitarist Som Wardner, drummer Ravi Kesavaram, guitarist Seth Taylor and bassist Tatia Starkey. The band had success with their de ...
.


Track listing


Personnel

*
Greg Sage Greg Sage (born October 21, 1951) is an American songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, regarded as an important influence on many punk rock and post-punk artists. Sage is best known as the principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist of the infl ...
 –
lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...
,
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
* Dave Koupal –
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...
* Sam Henry –
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...
Production * Greg Sage – producer * Bob Stoutenberg –
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
,
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, r ...
* Mark Heim; Mike King – cover art * Jay Elliot – sleeve art


References

{{Authority control 1980 debut albums Wipers albums Sub Pop albums