''Rips'' is the debut studio album 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

Ex Hex ''Ex Hex'' is the third solo album from Mary Timony. It was released April 19, 2005 on Lookout! Records. Reception and legacy On a 2016 list by ''BrooklynVegan'', ''Ex Hex'' placed eighth out of Lookout! Records 10 "must-have" albums. The site ...

. It was released on October 7, 2014 by

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

Critical reception

''Rips'' holds a score of 84 out of 100 on the review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating "universal acclaim". ''

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 ...

'' writer Aaron Leitko gave ''Rips'' a "Best New Music" designation and remarked that the album "mostly finds the band walking away from Timony's established voice and pushing toward something more direct and energetic—embracing the past, but also blowing things up and starting again." Heather Phares of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that ''Rips'' "mixes simple pleasures and complicated ones into a completely life-affirming debut", while Laura Snapes of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' called the album "a reminder of rock’s glorious communal potential". ''NME'' named ''Rips'' the tenth best album of 2014. It also placed at number 11 on ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''s

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

year-end critics' poll.

Year-end lists

Track listing

Personnel

;Ex Hex * Laura Harris – drums *

Mary Timony Mary Bozana Timony (born 1969 or 1970) is an American indie rock, independent singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, Bass guitar, bassist, and viola, violist. She has been a member of the bands Helium (band), Helium, Autoclave (band), Autocl ...

– guitar, vocals * Betsy Wright – bass guitar ;Additional personnel *

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontm ...

– engineering * Bobby Harlow – mixing * Dennis Kane – tracking * Johann Kauth – artwork, layout * Jeff Lipton – mastering * Maria Rice – mastering assistant * Jonah Takagi – production, tracking, photography * Missy Thangs – recording assistant

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2014 debut albums Ex Hex (band) albums Merge Records albums