Selling the Sizzle!

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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)

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

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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