This Can't Be Life
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| This Can't Be Life | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | Alternative, folk rock | |||
| Length | 45:07 | |||
| Label | DGC[1] | |||
| Producer | Tony Berg, John Porter | |||
| Wild Colonials chronology | ||||
| ||||
This Can't Be Life is the second album by the American band Wild Colonials, released in 1996.[2][3] The first single was "Charm", which was an alternative radio hit.[4] The band supported the album with a North American tour that included stints with Los Lobos and Chalk FarM.[5][6][7] They also headlined the second stage at the inaugural 1997 Lilith Fair.[8]
The album was produced by Tony Berg and John Porter.[9] The album cover used artwork from a lithograph from the 1700s, which was discovered on a postcard.[9] Bandmember Scott Roewe played a penny whistle, melodica, and didgeridoo, among other instruments.[10] Rickie Lee Jones contributed to the album.[11] "Want" is about the death of singer Angela McCluskey's mother.[12] McCluskey had a practice of starting to compose songs during year-end holiday seasons.[13]
Cover Artwork
The cover image is from a 1917 German postcard. The sleeve design and photos were taken by Wild Colonials' violinist Paul Cantelon's brother Lee Cantelon. After a photo session at Rickie Lee Jones's house, Lee noticed the postcard on Rickie's kitchen wall.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [15] |
| San Jose Mercury News | [16] |
The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed the album a "catchy, Eastern-flavored second effort."[17] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "McCluskey sings messages for the lovelorn and the bitter over sounds that run from jazzy torch epics to the vaguely Middle Eastern."[15] The San Jose Mercury News noted the "same low-range vocal ground" as 10,000 Maniacs.[16] The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette dismissed This Can't Be Life as "fuzzy acoustic vaguely Irish folk jazz."[18]
The Orange County Register advised: "Imagine an Out of Time-era R.E.M. fronted by a raving mad Deborah Harry and you begin to get the idea of the punch Wild Colonials can pack."[12] The Star-Ledger stated that "McCluskey's husky, intelligent, sultry voice is the right vehicle to carry the band's jagged, edgy, Celtic-flavored alternative folk-rock that's as much Roxy Music as it is 10,000 Maniacs."[19]
The Oregonian listed This Can't Be Life among the 10 best albums of 1996.[20]
