A Glorious Lethal Euphoria Explained

A Glorious Lethal Euphoria
Type:studio
Artist:the Mermen
Cover:A Glorious Lethal Euphoria.jpg
Released:1995
Studio:Mr. Toad's
Genre:Surf rock
Label:Toadophile
Mesa/Bluemoon
Producer:Jim Thomas, Mermen
Prev Title:Live at the Haunted House
Prev Year:1994
Next Title:Songs of the Cows EP
Next Year:1996

A Glorious Lethal Euphoria is an album by the American band the Mermen, released in 1995.[1] [2] The album was bought by Atlantic Records, which distributed it via their Mesa label.[3] It won a Bay Area Music Award, in the "Outstanding Independent Album or EP" category.[4] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[5]

Production

Produced by Jim Thomas and the Mermen, the album was recorded at Mr. Toad's Recording Studio, in San Francisco, California.[6] It ends with Thomas's version of "Brahms 3rd Movement 3rd Symphony".[7] The other songs were written and titled by Thomas, who took "With No Definite Future and No Purpose Other Than to Prevail Somehow..." from a line in Lauren Bacall's autobiography.[8]

Critical reception

Rolling Stone opined that "hints of Dick Dale filter through the cracked-sidewalk wave forms of Sonic Youth."[9] Trouser Press wrote: "Equally capable of settling down to precise figures of reverbed/tremoloed modesty, [Thomas] whips the luridly titled originals ('Scalp Salad', 'Pulpin’ Line', 'The Drowning Man Knows His God') into stormy seas of aggressive rock virulence and sends soft breezes to caress placid lily pads, never settling for generic methodology."[10] Miami New Times thought that the Mermen "combine Dale's hard-picking percussive attack with the feedback grandeur of Neil Young's late-baroque work with Crazy Horse and end up with something else entirely, at once menacing and eerily pretty."[11]

Guitar Player determined that "Thomas' ambient, whammy-articulated Fender tones are luscious, and his melodic lines can be snaky and sinister or as open-spirited as a desert skyline."[12] The Chicago Tribune concluded that "the trio explores hovering, ambient textures that evoke British pioneers such as My Bloody Valentine and See Feel; rambles into the dissonant terrain of New York's post-No Wave guitar bands; and brings dark-tinged introspection to its long-form pieces that suggests more than passing familiarity with jazz giant John Coltrane."[13]

AllMusic wrote that "the Mermen are worshippers at the feet of the mighty Dick Dale, surf-guitar god, and they aren't afraid to demonstrate that with all the passion at their command."

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mermen Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic.
  2. News: After many years in San Francisco, adventurous surf guitarist Jim Thomas of the Mermen finds his new groove in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz Sentinel. February 11, 2010.
  3. News: Ganahl . Jane . The Mermen on the verge of catching a big one . San Francisco Examiner . 9 Nov 1995 . B1.
  4. News: Crouch . Lisa Marie . Mermen Go Their Own Way, Swimmingly . The Record . 14 June 1996 . Lifestyle/Previews . 30.
  5. News: Nash . John . Mermen bringing unique style of music . Bangor Daily News . 17 Feb 1996 . 1.
  6. Web site: Four Big Moos for the Mer-Guys. https://web.archive.org/web/20211111214629/http://www.mtv.com/news/503175/four-big-moos-for-the-mer-guys/. dead. November 11, 2021. MTV News.
  7. News: The Mermen. Michael. Roberts. Westword.
  8. News: Kava . Brad . Rockin' for the Bammies – Mermen Top the Bill at San Jose Block Party . San Jose Mercury News . October 11, 1996 . Eye . 19.
  9. Fricke . David . On the edge . Rolling Stone . Dec 28, 1995 . 724–725 . 125.
  10. Web site: Mermen . Trouser Press . 11 November 2021.
  11. News: Rotations. Miami New Times.
  12. Rotondi . James . Picks — A Glorious Lethal Euphoria by the Mermen . Guitar Player . Dec 1995 . 29 . 12 . 129.
  13. News: Kot . Greg . Surf's Up, Again . Chicago Tribune . 1 Mar 1996 . Friday . O.