Wikipedia

Selling the Sizzle!

Selling the Sizzle! is an album by the Canadian band the Smugglers, released in 1996.[2][3] "Especially You" was the first single.[4]

Selling the Sizzle!
Studio album by
the Smugglers
Released1996
StudioSonic Iguana Studios
GenrePunk rock
LabelMint/Lookout![1]
ProducerMass Giorgini
The Smugglers chronology
Senor Pantsdown EP
(1995) 		Selling the Sizzle!
(1996) 		Buddy Holly Convention EP
(1997)

The band promoted the album by touring with the Mr. T Experience.[5] Selling the Sizzle! sold more than 13,000 copies in its first six months of release.[6]

Production edit

Recorded in Lafayette, Indiana, the album was produced by Mass Giorgini.[7][8] "Dusty's Lament" is an instrumental.[9] "Reno Nickel" is about the band's love of gambling.[10]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [11]
Deseret News    [12]
Winnipeg Sun     [13]

Trouser Press thought that, "with drum-tight playing, soaring fidelity and [Grant] Lawrence as the versatile mouthpiece, the Smugs step out of the slop-rock shadows as a rip-roaring ’60s showband with deliciously memorable party songs that serve equally well as tribute and parody."[14] The Globe and Mail determined that "garage rock soldiers on, cheap, cheerful, sloppy, unpretentious and fun."[15] The Washington Post opined that the songs "depend more on enthusiasm than originality, but there's no shortage of the former."[16]

The Province deemed the album "a platter full of greasy rock 'n' roll junk food and The Smugglers' best so far."[17] The Record concluded that "the cartoonish Nuggets-redux band is lost somewhere in the no- man's-land between camp appeal and real songwriting."[18] The Calgary Herald called Selling the Sizzle! "classic '60s one-zit wonder rock all dressed up in punk attitude."[19] The Deseret News wrote: "Rooted in garage punk-rock, the Smugglers play catchy, if somewhat nasal, two- or three-minute songs that breeze right by."[12]

AllMusic stated that the Smugglers "strike their usual midpoint between the Mr. T Experience and pure '60s beat-rock."[11]

Track listing edit

No.TitleLength
1."To Serve, Protect and Entertain" 
2."Especially You" 
3."Bishy-Bishy!" 
4."Big Trouble" 
5."She Ain't No Egyptian" 
6."Death of a Romantic" 
7."The Dedication" 
8."I Need a Vacation" 
9."The B 'n' L" 
10."Pick 'Em Up Truck" 
11."Queasy" 
12."Bad Guys" 
13."Dusty's Lament" 
14."Reno Nickel" 
15."Barkerville" 

References edit

  1. ^ "Top 75". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 35. Jul 1996. p. 55.
  2. ^ "The Smugglers Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  3. ^ Fontana, Kaitlin (October 12, 2011). Fresh at Twenty: The Oral History of Mint Records. ECW Press. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Thompson, Erick (4 May 1996). "The Smugglers Selling the Sizzle!". Nanaimo Times. p. B6.
  5. ^ "The Smugglers Kings of the Party | Exclaim!". exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  6. ^ Stoute, Lenny (August 29, 1996). "Passion for live rock, Mod suits and vinyl". Toronto Star. p. G7.
  7. ^ Prested, Kevin (November 28, 2014). Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records. Microcosm Publishing. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Blake, Joseph (15 Sep 1996). "B.C. groups offer youthful energy". Entertainment. Times Colonist. p. 1.
  9. ^ "The Smugglers". Broken Pencil. No. 3. Summer 1996. p. 68.
  10. ^ Elliott, Rob (15 May 1996). "The Smugglers". The Rocket. p. 13.
  11. ^ a b "Selling the Sizzle!". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  12. ^ a b Vice, Jeff (September 21, 1996). "Punk Rockers Scream, Croon and Sizzle on 3 New Releases". Deseret News. p. E4.
  13. ^ Kendle, John (8 Mar 1996). "The Smugglers Selling the Sizzle!". Winnipeg Sun. p. 34.
  14. ^ "Smugglers". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  15. ^ Dafoe, Chris (24 Feb 1996). "Selling the Sizzle". The Globe and Mail. p. C9.
  16. ^ Jenkins, Mark (6 September 1996). "Four Points on Rock Spectrum". The Washington Post. p. N14.
  17. ^ Harrison, Tom (19 Apr 1996). "Small-town heroes: Smugglers like to play little places". The Province. p. B30.
  18. ^ Weiler, Derek (4 Apr 1996). "The Smugglers Selling the Sizzle!". The Record. p. F6.
  19. ^ Muretich, James (23 May 1996). "Lose the car and let your garage rock". Calgary Herald. p. F7.
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