American Wrestlers (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
April 7, 2015 (re-release)
Fat Possum Records (re-release)
| American Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2014 (self-release) April 7, 2015 (re-release) | |||
| Recorded | 2014, St. Louis, Missouri | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Label | Self-released (2014) Fat Possum Records (re-release) | |||
| Producer | Gary McClure | |||
| American Wrestlers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from American Wrestlers | ||||
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American Wrestlers is the debut studio album by indie rock act American Wrestlers, initially self-released on BandCamp in 2014, and re-released on April 7, 2015, on Fat Possum Records. The album was recorded entirely by Gary McClure on an eight-track Tascam recorder.[1]
In 2014, following the break-up of Gary McClure's band, Working for a Nuclear Free City, and the release of his debut solo album, Wreaths (2013), McClure moved to St. Louis, Missouri to marry his then-girlfriend, Bridget Imperial. McClure subsequently purchased an eight-track Tascam recorder and a bass guitar at a local pawn shop and recorded American Wrestlers at his new home. Regarding the album's lo-fi recording process, McClure noted, "The last time I recorded on like a 4-track or an 8-track was when I was like thirteen/fourteen in my bedroom, and this is the first thing I've recorded on 8-tracks since then."[1]
Writing and composition
The track, "Kelly", is partly written about Kelly Thomas, an American homeless man that was beaten to death by the police, in 2011. Gary McClure noted, "It concerns some other things too: parts of America. Parts of people. Artless strips of neon over a trough that spreads further than any animal could ever walk."[2]
Regarding the album's opening and closing tracks, "There's No One Crying Over Me Either" and "Left", McClure stated: "They’re both songs about human failures to connect in an open, real and faithfully exposed way because of being unable to let go of the feeling of being special, which is something produced by the ego."[3]
