''Repercussion'' is the second studio album by American
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ...
band
the dB's, released in 1981 by Albion Records. Like its predecessor, ''
Stands for Decibels'', the album was commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed.
This was the band's final album with the original lineup, as
Chris Stamey left in early April 1982.
Background and production
Stamey and
Peter Holsapple, the band's dual singers/guitarists, each ended up contributing six songs on the album. As was the case on their debut, Stamey's songs veered towards more experimental melodies and rhythms, while Holsapple's songs were more traditionally in a pop vein.
The album was produced by
Scott Litt
Scott Warren Litt (born March 10, 1954) is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s during the band's most su ...
(later famous for his association with the band
R.E.M. and for remixing
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. ...
's album ''
In Utero''), giving it a "fuller, more modern overall sound".
The first track, Holsapple's "Living a Lie", featured a horn section,
the Rumour
The Rumour was an English rock band in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known as the backup band for Graham Parker, whose early records (from 1976 to 1980) were credited to Graham Parker & The Rumour. However, The Rumour also ...
Brass.
Stamey's "ridiculously catchy" song "Ask for Jill" was about the process of mastering an album.
Holsapple's composition "Amplifier" (about a suicidal man reflecting on how his significant other left him and took all his belongings, save for the titular object) became the band's lead single and also their first video.
"Amplifier" was later rerecorded and included on the band's next album, ''
Like This''. The original version was later included on
Rhino Records
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
' box set ''
Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground''.
A video for the second single, "Neverland", was completed but went unreleased until the band uploaded it to their website in 2008.
Track listing
Side 1
# "Living a Lie" – 3:26 (
Peter Holsapple)
# "We Were Happy There" – 2:39 (Holsapple)
# "Happenstance" – 4:07 (Chris Stamey)
# "From a Window" – 2:34 (Stamey)
# "Amplifier" – 3:08 (Holsapple)
# "Ask for Jill" – 2:33 (Stamey)
Side 2
#
"I Feel Good (Today)" – 4:28 (Stamey)
# "Storm Warning" – 2:32 (Holsapple)
# "Ups and Downs" – 3:03 (Stamey)
# "Nothing Is Wrong" – 4:16 (Holsapple)
# "In Spain" – 3:02 (Stamey)
# "Neverland" – 2:46 (Holsapple)
Different versions of the album have been reissued on CD with different bonus tracks, usually either Holsapple's instrumental B-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 ...
"PH Factor" or Stamey's "Soul Kiss".
Personnel
The dB's
* Chris Stamey – guitar, vocals
* Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals
*Gene Holder – bass guitar
* Will Rigby – drums
Additional musicians
*Andy Clark
Andy Clark, (born 1957) is a British philosopher who is Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Prior to this, he was at professor of philosophy and Chair in Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh in Sc ...
– additional keyboards
*The Rumour
The Rumour was an English rock band in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known as the backup band for Graham Parker, whose early records (from 1976 to 1980) were credited to Graham Parker & The Rumour. However, The Rumour also ...
Brass:
**Chris Gower – trombone
**Dick Hansen – trumpet
** John "Irish" Earle – saxophones
References
{{Authority control
1982 albums
Albums produced by Scott Litt
The dB's albums
I.R.S. Records albums