Take a Break (album)
| Take a Break | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | Motor Studios, San Francisco | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 32:30 | |||
| Label | Fat Wreck Chords | |||
| Me First and the Gimme Gimmes chronology | ||||
| ||||
Take a Break is the fourth album by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, released on July 1, 2003, on Fat Wreck Chords independent record label.
The album consists entirely of cover versions of R&B songs. Like its predecessor, Blow in the Wind, several tracks lead off with appropriations of classic punk (or related genres like new wave) riffs ("Crazy" incorporates "Six Pack" by Black Flag, "Save the Best for Last" includes "Pretty Vacant" by the Sex Pistols, and "I'll Be There" borrows the intro from the Cars' "Just What I Needed").
Production
[edit]The band had trouble selecting songs for inclusion, at first attempting upbeat songs such as "Papa Was a Rolling Stone", but found that they did not translate well to sped-up punk rhythms. They eventually settled on ballads with "no real time signature" that were more amenable to rearrangement.[1] When the band first finished recording and submitted the album to be pressed and distributed, the record label, Fat Wreck Chords, initially refused to distribute it; this was at the behest of the label's employees and was despite label owner Fat Mike being a member of the band. This prompted the Gimme Gimmes to record five additional songs to make the album acceptable to those employees. Even after the addition of the new recordings, guitarist Joey Cape felt that Take a Break was the band's "worst record".[2]
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Age |   [3] |
| AllMusic |  [4] |
| AMP | (favorable)[5] |
| The Buffalo News | [6] |
| The Hartford Courant | (favorable)[7] |
| The London Free Press | (favorable)[8] |
| The Maneater | (mixed)[9] |
| Moose Jaw Times-Herald | [10] |
| Post Register | (unfavorable)[11] |
| Reno Gazette-Journal | [12] |
Mackenzie Wilson of AllMusic praised Take a Break as superior to the band's previous outing, Blow in the Wind, saying it was rock & roll done "the right way".[4] Andrew Parks of the Buffalo News praised the "infectious takes" on R&B songs, and the "sly songwriting touches" that the Gimme Gimmes included,[6] while Roger Catlin in the Hartford Courant described it as "giddy fun".[7] Richard Baker of The Age described the middle section of the album as "the Gimmes at their best",[3] and Darryl Sterdan in the London Free Press was similarly positive about the middle tracks "Nothing Compares 2 U", "Isn't She Lovely", and "I'll Be There".[8] Dan MacEachern of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald and Jeremy Plothow of the Post Register gave negative reviews, each saying that the band's formula had become tired,[10][11] and Mark Robison in the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote that the song selections were uninspired.[12]
Track listing
[edit]Personnel
[edit]- Spike Slawson - vocals
- Chris Shiflett (a.k.a. Jake Jackson) - lead guitar
- Joey Cape - rhythm guitar
- Fat Mike - bass
- Dave Raun - drums
References
[edit]- ^ Tauschke, Steve (October 10, 2003). "Gimme punk, gimme parody". The Age. Melbourne. ProQuest 363571109. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Rayner, Ben (July 31, 2003). "Musical cheese and the Me First gang". Toronto Star. Toronto. ProQuest 438600582. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Baker, Richard (August 1, 2003). "Take a Break CD Reviews". The Age. Melbourne. ProQuest 363668521. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Wilson, MacKenzie. "Take a Break - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes". AllMusic. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Kanaan, Ramsey (October 2003). "Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: "Take a Break"". AMP. No. 5. Martinez. p. 170 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Parks, Andrew (July 18, 2003). "Music Disks". The Buffalo News. Buffalo. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via Access World News.
- ^ a b Catlin, Roger (July 24, 2003). "New on Disc". The Hartford Courant. Hartford. ProQuest 256861804. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Sterdan, Darryl (August 23, 2003). "Young's in His Own World". The London Free Press. London, Ontario. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via Access World News.
- ^ Dziuba, Paul (July 17, 2003). "Original songs still need not apply". The Maneater. Columbia. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via Access World News.
- ^ a b MacEachern, Dan (August 2, 2003). "Songs on Gordon Downie's new CD won't likely inspire college students to scream". Moose Jaw Times-Herald. Moose Jaw. ProQuest 345329097. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Plothow, Jeremy (June 27, 2003). "Alternative country acts bring the boot". Post Register. Idaho Falls. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via Access World News.
- ^ a b Robison, Mark (August 8, 2003). "CD Rack". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno. ProQuest 439392488. Retrieved March 2, 2024 – via ProQuest.
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