Web in Front is a song by American indie rock band Archers of Loaf, originally released as a 7" single on Alias Records in 1993. It was their first release on the Alias label, and their first single from their debut album Icky Mettle.[2][3] The original single also included the tracks "Bathroom" and "Tatayana".[4]
| "Web in Front" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Archers of Loaf | |
| from the album Icky Mettle | |
| Recorded | February 1993 |
| Genre | |
| Label | Alias |
| Songwriter(s) |
|
| Icky Mettle track listing | |
| |
Impact
edit"Web in Front" launched Icky Mettle to high-ranking positions on the college charts, including #18 on the CMJ New Music Report Top 150.[5] The single was played regularly on both college radio and MTV,[2] and its music video was featured in an episode of Beavis and Butthead.[5] Additionally, the track was featured in the 1995 Kevin Smith film Mallrats.
Critical reception
editWhen "Web in Front" was originally released, music critics often compared it to Pavement and Superchunk.[3] For example, Charles Aaron wrote in Spin that the song was "...a less fettered and more frolicsome rewrite of Pavement's "From Now On" (from Perfect Sound Forever).[4] The New York Times' Neil Strauss described the song as frontman Eric Bachmann's "...own tongue-in-cheek version of a love song, and a perfect combination of weirdness with pop intuition."[6]
Retrospective
editIn a review of Seconds Before the Accident, a 2000 Archers of Loaf live album, Pete Nicholson described "Web in Front" as a "pop classic".[7] In 2012, Pitchfork Media's Matt LeMay wrote that "..."Web in Front" is quite simply among the finest indie rock songs ever written. That a song whose lyrics are all but impossible to parse literally comes off as so immediate and relatable speaks both to Bachmann's skill with words-as-sounds, and to his bandmates' ability to put force and nuance behind his voice."[8] Also in 2012, Pitchfork's Paul Thompson wrote that the song "...isn't just their finest song, it's their defining moment, their rocket-shot into the canon."[9]
Pitchfork ranked the song as the 77th best track of the 1990s in a 2010 list.[10]
Covers and samples
editPunk rock band Alkaline Trio covered the song in 2010 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover web series.[11]
Chris Carrabba of the rock band Dashboard Confessional covered the song in 2011 for a Daytrotter session.[12]
References
edit- ^ Kurland, Jordan. "The Mix: 100 Essential Noise Pop Songs". NPR.
- ^ a b "Archers of Loaf". Contemporary Musicians. 2004. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- ^ a b Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 38. ISBN 9781843531050.
- ^ a b Aaron, Charles (August 1993). "Singles". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. p. 90.
- ^ a b Grady, Ross (April 1995). "Archers of Loaf". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network, Inc. p. 17.
- ^ Strauss, Neil (1994-04-26). "Pop and Jazz in Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ Nicholson, Pete (2000-06-30). "Archers of Loaf: Seconds Before the Accident Album Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- ^ LeMay, Matt (2011-08-01). "Archers of Loaf: Icky Mettle Album Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- ^ Thompson, Paul (2012-08-14). "Archers of Loaf: Reissues Album Review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- ^ "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 100-51". Pitchfork Media. 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- ^ "Alkaline Trio covers Archers Of Loaf's "Web in Front"". The A.V. Club. Chicago. March 30, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Dashboard Confessional Daytrotter Session - May 13, 2011". Paste. May 13, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2024.