Fatherfucker Explained

Fatherfucker
Type:studio
Artist:Peaches
Cover:Peaches - Fatherfucker.png
Studio:Studio Rapp (Berlin)
Label:XL
Prev Title:The Teaches of Peaches
Prev Year:2000
Next Title:Impeach My Bush
Next Year:2006

Fatherfucker is the third studio album by Canadian singer Peaches, released on September 23, 2003 by XL Recordings. Cover versions of Electric Six's "Gay Bar" and Berlin's "Sex (I'm a ...)" are included as bonus tracks.

Writing and development

Peaches penned and programmed all the music for Fatherfucker herself. She wrote "Kick It" specifically for Iggy Pop, and the two teamed up in Miami in March 2003 to record it. Peaches told Rolling Stone, "The song is more about rock 'n' roll than sex."[1]

Composition

Musically, Fatherfucker is more rock-oriented than The Teaches of Peaches. "I Don't Give A..." samples the Joan Jett song "Bad Reputation" as Peaches yells, "I don't give a fuck!" and "I don't give a shit!" during the song.

Promotion

To promote Fatherfucker, Peaches toured as the opening act on Marilyn Manson's 2003 European tour.[2] Peaches also toured as part of the 2004 State of Exit festival in Novi Sad, Serbia.[3] "Operate" is played during the Halloween house party scene in the 2004 film Mean Girls.[4] On May 8, 2005, Peaches performed the song "I U She" in an episode of season two of The L Word, titled "L'Chaim".[5]

Peaches and Maxx Ginnane directed a promotional video for "Tombstone, Baby" that features Ella Ferrante and Billi Lime dancing with knives and cutting each other's clothing. "Tombstone, Baby" was included on the compilation album FM4 Sound Selection 9. "The Inch" was used in the 2007 comedy films Itty Bitty Titty Committee and Young People Fucking, as well as in the 2011 romantic comedy film Getting That Girl.[5]

Singles

"Operate"/"Shake Yer Dix" was released as a limited-edition 12-inch single on September 8, 2003.[6] [7] It peaked at number 112 on the UK Singles Chart.[8]

"Kick It" was released as the album's second single on January 5, 2004.[9] It features Iggy Pop and received positive reviews from the NME.[10] It became Peaches' second top 40 entry in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 39.

"Shake Yer Dix" was remixed by Tiga and re-released as the album's third and final single on May 24, 2004.[11]

Critical reception

Fatherfucker received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 20 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Heather Phares of AllMusic described Fatherfucker as "neither the triumph or the disaster that it could've been." Similarly, Andy Battaglia of The A.V. Club wrote that "nearly all of Fatherfucker falls back into ostensibly bracing anthems that sound plain stupid in such abundance."[12] Robert Christgau named "I Don't Give A..." as a "Choice Cut".[13]

The NME ranked Fatherfucker at number 29 on its 50 Best Albums of 2003 list.[14] The album was ranked at number 49 on Q magazine's list of The 50 Best Albums of 2003.[15] Drowned in Sound placed it at number 73 on its list of the Top 75 Albums of 2003.[16] The Village Voice ranked Fatherfucker at number 157 on its Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2003.[17] The Wire included Fatherfucker on its 50 Records of the Year list for 2003.[18] In October 2009, Gigwise placed the album cover at number 40 on The 50 Best Album Covers of the 2000s.[19] Fatherfucker earned Peaches a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards,[20] but lost out to Rufus Wainwright.[21]

Commercial performance

Fatherfucker became Peaches' first album to chart in the United States. Despite debuting at number 35 on the Top Heatseekers chart and at number 33 on the Independent Albums chart, the album spent only one week on both charts. Nevertheless, Fatherfucker peaked at number five on the Top Electronic Albums chart, where it spent a total of eight weeks. As of July 2006, Fatherfucker had sold 40,000 copies worldwide.[22]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Fatherfucker.[23]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pop show! . . April 17, 2003 . July 26, 2010.
  2. Web site: Peaches joins the Manson family . NME . October 2, 2003 . July 26, 2010.
  3. Web site: Murison . Krissi . State Of EXIT festival : Serbia Novi Sad . NME . August 3, 2004 . July 27, 2010.
  4. Web site: Stern . Bradley . 10 Years Later, The 'Mean Girls' Soundtrack Is Still Pretty Fetch Too . MuuMuse . April 30, 2014 . September 29, 2016.
  5. Web site: Peaches – Filmography . . July 26, 2010.
  6. Web site: Peaches to turn the air in Heaven Blue! . NME . July 30, 2003 . July 26, 2010.
  7. Web site: Peaches – Operate (Vinyl) . 8 September 2003 . . September 29, 2016.
  8. Web site: Chart Log UK: Rodney P. – The Pussycat Dolls . Zobbel . July 26, 2010.
  9. Web site: Peaches Feat. Iggy Pop – Kick It (CD) . 5 January 2004 . Discogs . September 29, 2016.
  10. Web site: Jonze . Tim . Peaches featuring Iggy Pop : Kick It . NME . January 12, 2004 . July 26, 2010.
  11. Web site: Peaches – Shake Yer Dix (Tiga Remixes) (Vinyl) . 24 May 2004 . Discogs . July 26, 2010.
  12. Web site: Battaglia . Andy . Peaches: Fatherfucker . . September 29, 2003 . September 26, 2016.
  13. Web site: Christgau . Robert . Robert Christgau . CG: Peaches . robertchristgau.com . May 10, 2010.
  14. Web site: A decade in music – 50 best albums of 2003 . NME . November 25, 2009 . September 29, 2016.
  15. Web site: 2003: Q magazine Recordings Of The Year . Rocklist.net . July 23, 2010.
  16. Web site: Adams . Sean . DiS Staff Top 75 Albums of 2003 . . December 9, 2003 . July 23, 2010 . August 20, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170820203526/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/8603-dis-staff-top-75-albums-of-2003 . dead .
  17. Web site: Village Voice – Pazz & Jop Lists: Albums 2003 . Rocklist.net . July 23, 2010.
  18. Web site: 50 Records Of The Year plus specialist charts . . January 2004 . September 29, 2016.
  19. Web site: The 50 Best Album Covers of the 2000s! . . October 22, 2009 . July 23, 2010.
  20. Web site: Maldonado . Ryan . GLAAD unveils '04 noms . . December 7, 2003 . September 29, 2016.
  21. Web site: Antonio Banderas, John Waters, "Bend it Like Beckham," "Angels in America," Honored at 15th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Presented by ABSOLUT VODKA in Los Angeles . . March 28, 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051119203029/http://www.glaad.org/media/release_detail.php?id=3637&PHPSESSID=85aa222bb4c8d2b8780aa36bd1e82098 . November 19, 2005 . September 29, 2016.
  22. Web site: Sullivan . Caroline . Filth and fury . . July 24, 2006 . September 26, 2016.
  23. Fatherfucker . . 2003 . CD liner notes . . XLCD171.
  24. Web site: Top 40 Dance Albums . . September 28, 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20031001183935/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/top40/dance.shtml . October 1, 2003 . July 21, 2010.