''Red House Painters'' (also known as ''Bridge'' or ''Red House Painters II'' to distinguish it from the first eponymous album, also known as ''

Rollercoaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

'' or ''Red House Painters I'') is the third album by the group Red House Painters, released on October 18, 1993 by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

. The album is made up of songs from the same recording sessions for ''Rollercoaster''. At the beginning of the album opener "Evil," the faint laughter of

Mark Kozelek Mark Edward Kozelek (born January 24, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and founding member of t ...

and the barely audible voice of a woman playfully saying "No" can be heard. The album includes two covers: a sunny version of "

I Am a Rock "I Am a Rock" is a song written by Paul Simon. It was first performed by Simon alone as the opening track on his album ''The Paul Simon Songbook'' which he originally recorded and released in August 1965, only in the United Kingdom. Paul Simon and ...

" by

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of "T ...

, and

Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who wrote the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key observed the British bombardment ...

's "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bo ...

", which displays an off-beat dark humor. An acoustic version of the song "New Jersey" was on ''Red House Painters I''. In the US, 4AD added the ''

Shock Me EP ''Shock Me'' is an EP by American slowcore band Red House Painters. It was released in the UK only in 1994 on CD and 12" vinyl by record label 4AD. Recording ''Shock Me'' was recorded and mixed at Coast Recorders, San Francisco in 1993. Addi ...

'' as bonus tracks to the CD when the RHP catalog was reissued in 1999, to bring the total number of tracks to 12.

Track listing

Release history

Notes

* Images b
Simon Larbalestier

"I Am a Rock"/"New Jersey" single

Although no commercial singles were ever released from the album, a promotional-only CD single was issued for "I Am a Rock" in October 1993. In the US, a one-track promo featuring the radio edit was released; similarly, in the UK, a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

promo single, backed with "New Jersey" (Electric Version), was issued. Warner Bros./4AD, PRO-CD-5498: # "I Am a Rock" (Edit) – 4:44 4AD, RHP 1 CD (UK): # "I Am a Rock" (Edit) – 4:44 # "New Jersey" (Electric Version) – 4:24

Trivia

- On track 6, ''Uncle Joe,'' the lines: ''"And I am not very well read'' ''And did you say that I will lose my house'' ''And can you spare me of my pain'' ''And can you spare me of my tears''" form a lyrical joke referencing the name of the band. Reading the last word of each line results in "Red House Pain Tears", effectively the name Red House Painters.

References

{{Authority control Red House Painters albums 1993 albums 4AD albums Albums produced by Mark Kozelek