''Spanking Machine'' is the debut studio album by American

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 ...

band Babes in Toyland, released on April 16, 1990.

Background and production

The working title of the album was ''Swamp Pussy'', which later ended up becoming the opening song on the album. The album title was later changed to ''Spanking Machine'', after the "spanking machine" from an episode of ''

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

'' titled "The Price of Fame". The album was recorded and produced by Seattle musician and producer

Jack Endino Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhoney, ...

Reciprocal Recording The Hall of Justice is a recording studio in the Ballard, Seattle, Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The triangular-shaped building, which has changed ownership and purpose throughout its century-old history, has functioned as a stud ...

in Seattle – where other bands such as

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

and

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...

recorded – and was released in April 1990 by

Twin/Tone Records Twin/Tone Records was an independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the ...

. " Dust Cake Boy" was a different version than that previously released on 45 by the Minneapolis-based Treehouse Records in 1989. It was recorded in 1988, before the band's sessions with Jack Endino, at Technisound Studio and produced by

Brian Paulson Brian Paulson is an American record producer and audio engineer from Minnesota, best known for recording albums by Slint, Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Superchunk and Wilco. Paulson grew up in Bemidji, Minnesota, but moved about 200 miles south to ...

. The single was backed with "Spit to See the Shine". A promotional video for the song "He's My Thing" was also recorded, though the song was never released as a single. Recorded during a live show at Minneapolis' First Avenue, the video was recorded on a

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

camera by Mike Etoll.

Critical reception

''Spanking Machine'' received generally positive reviews from critics, with Mark Deming 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 ...

stating:

'Spanking Machine''sounds like the blueprint for the music ourtneyLove would make during
Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...
's first incarnation ..that ''Spanking Machine'' is a more compelling and emotionally powerful work nd Kat Bjelland's songs pull no punches.

Other bands interested in the underground music scene – most notably

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

– were fans of the album, so much so that Sonic Youth's

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

invited the band to perform on Sonic Youth's 1990 European tour to promote their latest album, '' Goo''. The band also performed alongside Sonic Youth at 1991's

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...

, which was documented by

Dave Markey David Markey (born December 3, 1963, in Burbank, California, United States) is an American film director. Biography As a self-taught filmmaker and musician, David Markey directed, produced, edited, and photographed most of his films, the majorit ...

's music documentary, '' 1991: The Year Punk Broke''. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked ''Spanking Machine'' at number 27 on its list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" in 2019, writing that ''Spanking Machine'' "was a perfect marriage of crunchy Midwestern punk and wry Northwestern malaise."

Track listing

All songs written by Kat Bjelland, except where noted

Musicians and personnel

* Kat Bjelland –

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 the ...

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 ...

* Lori Barbero –

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 ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(lead vocals on "Dogg") *Michelle Leon –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

References

{{Authority control 1990 debut albums Babes in Toyland (band) albums Albums produced by Jack Endino Twin/Tone Records albums