One Sock Missing is the second album by the American band the Grifters, released in 1993 on Shangri-La Records.[1][2] The album was an underground hit.[3] It was reissued by Fat Possum Records in 2016.[4]
| One Sock Missing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1992, The Flower Shop & Easley McCain Recording, Memphis, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Indie Rock, lo-fi | |||
| Length | 44:59 (CD) | |||
| Label | Shangri-La Records Shangri-La 004 | |||
| Producer | The Grifters & Shangri-La Records | |||
| Grifters chronology | ||||
| ||||
Production
editThe album was in part recorded at Easley McCain Recording, in Memphis, Tennessee.[5] "I Arise" is a bonus track on the vinyl format of the album.[6]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
Trouser Press wrote that "Shouse and Taylor (who split vocals) often slip into a laconic saunter that’s a little too close for comfort to Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus’ slacker slump."[8] Billboard called "Corolla Hoist" "one of the great lofi singles."[9] The Staten Island Advance praised the band's "process of chopping, skewing, rearranging and mixing the standard formulas of various musical genres into a whole new ball of wax."[10]
AllMusic stated: "Certainly the most low-key (if not lo-fi) of the Grifters' early records, 1993's One Sock Missing is less noisy and aggressive than its immediate predecessor, So Happy Together."[7] Magnet noted: "Few indie-rock groups of this time pulled off such an emotionally cathartic and powerful mix of desperate darkness, dynamic heaviness, convincingly abstract drug-influenced weirdness, unbelievably infectious and gorgeous hooks, real wall-shredding sheets of noise and discordance, and low-key every-guy approachability."[11]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Stank Gallimore, Tripp Lampshade, Diamond Dave Shouse and Slim Taylor
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bummer" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 2:53 |
| 2. | "She Blows Blasts of Static" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 4:04 |
| 3. | "Shark" | Slim Taylor | 4:16 |
| 4. | "Teenage Jesus" | Tripp Lampshade | 3:02 |
| 5. | "Side" | Slim Taylor | 2:50 |
| 6. | "#1" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 1:16 |
| 7. | "Tupelo Moan" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 5:06 |
| 8. | "Wonder" | Slim Taylor | 1:20 |
| 9. | "Corolla Hoist" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 4:02 |
| 10. | "Encrusted" | Slim Taylor/Diamond Dave Shouse | 2:19 |
| 11. | "The Casual Years" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 3:19 |
| 12. | "Sain" | Slim Taylor | 2:28 |
| 13. | "Just Passing Out" | Diamond Dave Shouse | 3:21 |
| 14. | "I Arise" | Slim Taylor | 4:35 |
| Total length: | 44:59 | ||
Album credits
editGrifters
editcredited as
- Stank Gallimore
- Tripp Lampshade
- Diamond Dave Shouse
- Slim Taylor
Additional musicians
editGreg Easterly (Compulsive Gamblers) – Violins and Bass on Wonder
Skronkadelic Orchestra Unlimited on I Arise
- Jack Adcock – Gourd
- Jimmy Enck – Sax in Tune
- Robert Gordon – Jamming Untensil
- Fields Trimble (Compulsive Gamblers) – Saxophone
sitting in
- Jim Cole – Kwirrr Machine
- Sherman Willmott (Shangri-La Records) – Bike Horn
- Roy Berry (The Simple Ones)
Additional credits
edit- Largely recorded at the Flower Shop by Roy Berry
- Additional recording and mixing at Easley Studios by Doug Easley & Davis McCain
- Album and disc art by Roy Berry
- Cover drawing by Tripp Lamkins
- Cover design by Paul W. Ringger XXIV
- Paintings of the Grifters as a young band by Kelly
- Cover production by Towery Publishing
References
edit- ^ "Grifters Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ Unsworth, Cathy (Jun 26, 1993). "Put a sock in it". Melody Maker. 69 (26): 29.
- ^ Valania, Jonathan (July 23, 1994). "IT'S NOT LACK OF CONFIDENCE THAT MAKES THE GRIFTERS WANT TO HIDE". The Morning Call. p. A57.
- ^ "Grifters Reissues". The Commercial Appeal. 26 Feb 2016. p. G6.
- ^ Earles, Andrew (September 15, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN 9781627883795 – via Google Books.
- ^ Davis, Erik (Aug 1993). "Spins". Spin. 9 (5): 86.
- ^ a b "Grifters - One Sock Missing Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ "Grifters". Trouser Press. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Bambarger, Bradley (Sep 27, 1997). "Grifters give weight to Indie rock scene". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 39. pp. 11, 108.
- ^ Wright, Tom (November 28, 1993). "GRIFTERS' 'ONE SOCK MISSING' A GEM". Staten Island Advance. p. E3.
- ^ "Essential New Music: Grifters' "One Sock Missing" And "Crappin' You Negative"". Magnet. September 8, 2016.