Pure Juice is the debut album by alternative rock band Summercamp, released in 1997 by Maverick Recording Company.
| Pure Juice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 17, 1997[1] | |||
| Recorded | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |||
| Studio | Village Recorder[2] Ocean | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, power pop | |||
| Length | 43:37 | |||
| Label | Maverick | |||
| Producer | Chris Shaw and Summercamp | |||
| Summercamp chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Pure Juice | ||||
| ||||
Background and promotion
editAfter signing with Madonna's Maverick Records in late 1996, Summercamp began working on their major label debut.[3] Summercamp would be heavily hyped in the press,[4] with Madonna telling MTV that the band were better than Oasis.[5] Pure Juice was released on June 17, 1997, and that same month the band joined the 1997 edition of the Lollapalooza festival, which ran to August.[3][6] To further promote the album, a music video was made for the single "Drawer".
Reception
edit"Drawer" peaked at #21 on the Modern Rock chart in the US, receiving airplay in the summer of 1997.[3][6] Another single, "Should I Walk Away", became a top ten hit in Japan.[3]
Jason Ankeny of AllMusic gave the album two and a half stars, labelling it "derivative and highly formulaic" and "heavily influenced by late-'70s radio".[1] Sky Daniels of R&R magazine commented in 1997 that, "Summercamp continues a natural progression for Santa Barbara bands, beginning with a harder faster approach than its predecessors, but still yielding the prerequisite humm-ability that living in Paradise elicits."[7] In July 1997, R.S. Murthi of Malaysian paper the New Straits Times gave the album's sound four out of five stars, and the performances three out of five stars. He wrote, "the harmonies are not terrific, but they work, and often enhance the instrumental textures. If you need an analogy let's just say the band sounds like a less folkish Toad the Wet Sprocket."[8]
Appearances in other media
editIn 1998, "On Her Mind" appeared in the film BASEketball, and in 2000 the song "Nowhere Near" appeared on the soundtrack for Digimon: The Movie. "Play It By Ear" was also used in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Crush".
Track listing
editAll songs produced by Chris Shaw and Summercamp.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Drawer" | Tim Cullen | 4:01 |
| 2. | "Nowhere Near" | Tim Cullen | 2:20 |
| 3. | "The Bright Side" | Sean McCue | 4:23 |
| 4. | "Pure Juice" | Tim Cullen | 2:07 |
| 5. | "Should I Walk Away" | Sean McCue | 3:09 |
| 6. | "Keep an Eye on You" | Tim Cullen | 4:22 |
| 7. | "Play It By Ear" | Sean McCue | 2:32 |
| 8. | "Ninety Nine" | Tim Cullen | 3:39 |
| 9. | "On Her Mind" | Tim Cullen | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Mountain Size" | Sean McCue | 3:07 |
| 11. | "Two Shades of Grey" | Sean McCue | 3:36 |
| 12. | "With Your Blessing" | Tim Cullen | 3:03 |
| 13. | "Thing of the Past" | Tim Cullen | 4:12 |
Band members
edit- Tim Cullen - guitars and vocals
- Sean McCue - guitars and vocals
- Misha Feldmann - bass/backing vocals
- Tony Sevener - drums/backing vocals
Additional personnel
edit- Chris Shaw - engineering and mixing
- Dave Nottingham, Tom Fiore & James Murray - 2nd engineers
- Eddy Schreyer at Oasis Mastering
- David Young - Talent manager (Bliss Artist Management)
- David Levine - Booking agent (William Morris)
- Guy Oseary - A&R
- Jamie Young & David Lande - legal representation
- Todd Gelfand - business management (Gelfand, Rennert and Feldman)
- Kevin Reagan & Larimie Garcia - art direction/design
- Karl Hentz - cover photo
- Larry Mills, Chris Strother, Jodi Wille, Kristen Lauck - inside photos
References
edit- ^ a b "Pure Juice - Summercamp | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ Nottingham, David (2008). The Art of Developing Fans For Life: Circle of Competence Discussion Topics. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781462801978. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d Crigler, Pete (2013). Majorlabelland and Assorted Oddities. iUniverse. ISBN 9781491706022. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Hits" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. 5 May 1997. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Madonna's Summercamp". MTV. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021.
- ^ a b "LOLLAPALOOZA". Hartford Courant.
- ^ "Radio & Records" (PDF). Worldradiohistory.com. 23 May 1997. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
This record has yielded huge early results, debuting on the Alternative chart in its second week at No. 44. Benefitting from incredible timing, the record provides the perfect balance of rock and pop that recently the format has actively sought. Summercamp, which includes Tim Cullen (vocals /guitar), Sean McCue (vocals /guitar), Misha Feldman (bass), and Tony Sevener (drums) paired up with producer Chris Shaw (Redd Kross, Weezer) to field summer's first heat wave.
- ^ "New Straits Times". New Straits Times – via Google Books.
- ^ Pure, Juice. "Fresh Juice : Blender Portable". Pure Juice.