Acetone (album)
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| Acetone | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Length | 56:58 | |||
| Label | Vapor[1] | |||
| Producer | Acetone, Scott Campbell | |||
| Acetone chronology | ||||
| ||||
Acetone is an album by the American band Acetone, released in 1997.[2][3] It was the band's first album for Neil Young's Vapor Records; Acetone's previous label, Vernon Yard, had declared bankruptcy.[4]
The band supported the album by opening for Spiritualized on its North American tour.[5]
The album was produced by Scott Campbell and Acetone.[6] The band already had songs worked out prior to the recordings sessions, concluding that trying to write songs in the studio had been a mistake during the sessions for their previous album, If You Only Knew.[7] The band was chiefly influenced by jazz and country, and realized that the album's songs would be performed at a faster tempo in a live setting; they also rejected "sadcore" and "slowcore" labels.[8]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [10] |
| The Guardian | [11] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [6] |
| Pitchfork | 9.2/10[12] |
| The Times | 8/10[13] |
Stuart Berman of Pitchfork wrote that "[Richie] Lee's lyric sheet may have been filled with dejection ... but he always sang as if he was looking you in the eyes."[14] A later review by the website's Grayson Haver Currin called the album "focused and intentional in a way the band had never been, sorting through the suffering of survival with tenderness and intensity."[12] The Times declared that "Mark Lightcap's country-tinged guitars are simply gorgeous."[13] The Manchester Evening News dubbed the band "so laid-back they make JJ Cale seem uptight by comparison."[15]
Noting that Acetone "belong somewhere in the slowcore/sadcore area," The Sunday Times thought that "their music isn't just unhurried, it's completely indifferent to the passing of time."[16] The Guardian praised the "homespun, half-speed ballads."[11] The San Antonio Express-News deemed the album "atmospheric pop with a hint of guitar twang and the feeling of a slow-motion undertow".[17]
AllMusic thought that the album "finds the trio sinking deeper into a well of despair, with nothing but sparse guitar pickings, cracked vocals, and shambling rock figures to help."[9] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide wrote: "Alternately draining and invigorating, the sheer listlessness of songs such as 'Might as Well' and 'Good Life' is resuscitated by the drunk and confident stare of jazz-bar reflection."[6]
