Painted Shut was co-produced, engineered and mixed by John Agnello (who has perviously worked with Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth) and the band themselves in early 2015 at Headroom Studios in Philadelphia, and at Fluxivity Studios in Brooklyn.[3] Lead vocalist Frances Quinlan stated that much of the album was tracked live.[4] The album was recorded over a period of one month.[5] "Waitress" was released as a single from the album. The band toured the US in support of the album in Spring of 2015.[6]
Composition
Musical style
Pitchfork likened Painted Shut's style to the "romantic, middle-American indie" of artists such as Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley, while crediting punk rock for the band's "energy".[7] Correspondingly, Marcy Donelson AllMusic set forth the album's style as "punk-spirited indie rock".[8] Rachel Brodsky Spin said the album contains "guitar-driven" tracks and "pop-oriented melodies with a voice that sounds like it could use a soothing throat lozenge".[9] Additionally, the album has been said to include elements of country.[10]
The album's guitar riffs have been described as "melodic" and "sometimes angular", and have been compared to late-1990s emo and "Built To Spill-style rock".[11]Stereogum said the album's tracks "build up, layer upon layer upon layer, adding things gradually until they explode in a fiery passion." The album features distorted guitars and incorporates elements of Americana.[12][13][14] The album makes use of unorthodox instruments, such as an electric sitar in the intro of "Waitress".[15]
"Waitress" was written about a time Quinlan ran into an old friend while working in a restaurant. They explained, “It’s about one of the first times when I looked at somebody and felt the distaste in the air [...] I mean, I could have been making it up. You don’t know what people think about you, but just being in a situation where you know someone has reason to be disgusted with you. And I was just trying to do my job. It was one of the first times I felt really small."[20]
The album's seventh track "Powerful Man" is based on an experience Quinlan had as a teenager, where they claim to have witnessed a young child being physically abused by their father.[21] Quinlan admitted that the track was the first time they had felt uneasy about sharing lyrics, due to their personal nature. They said, "There’s part of me that thinks, is anyone going to care if I yell at this man? [...] There is something about parents hitting their kids, it’s just such a weird thing that we allow [...] The craziest thing was he saw us, looked us in the face, and had no reaction. It just didn’t register that we were any threat. And then he said “She’s not gonna help you.” He felt nothing that we were there. It in no way affected his behavior." The tracks “Buddy in the Parade” and “Well-dressed” are based on the life of jazz cornet player Buddy Bolden, who Quinlan learned of while enrolled in a memento mori class in college. The track “Horseshoe Crabs” is based on the life of folk musician Jackson C. Frank.[22][23][24]
Critical reception
Allmusic awarded the album four-and-a-half stars, directing praise towards Frances Quinlan's vocal performance and raw lyrics, and calling the songs "catchy" and the instrumentation "tight and gritty".[25] New Noise Magazine called the album well-rounded, saying "each song is just as powerful and quirky as the one before and after it."[26] In 2017, Spin ranked Painted Shut #6 on their list of the emo revival's best albums. The site's Leor Galil saw it as the record where Hop Along "focused their frisson and aimed it towards pop", resulting in "hits only they could create."[2]
^Donelson, Kirsten. "Painted Shut Review by Marcy Donelson". AllMusic. The album was co-produced with the band by the esteemed John Agnello, who's worked with the likes of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth and proves a perfect fit for Hop Along's punk-spirited indie rock.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
^"Painted Shut Review by Marcy Donelson". AllMusic. Musically steadier but still infectious and heart-wrenching, "Powerful Man" is a survey on guilt and regret about an incident the songwriter witnessed but didn't interrupt as a young adult: "Your dad told you not to look at me/Down came the fists, hard upon your head/I was the only other adult around/I was the only other adult around." Later in the song, she and a friend look for an authority figure, and the person they find doesn't intervene either. Less personal but still affecting, "Buddy in the Parade" is a tribute to New Orleans ragtime cornetist Buddy Bolden, who was admitted to a mental institution at age 30, died there, and was buried in a poor man's cemetery ("Money, money, money don't let you sleep/Switching graves in the cemetery/They buried you so many times/Can't find your body"). The album's lyrics are relentlessly candid throughout, scattered amongst intimate stories, darkened imagery, and observations like "The world's gotten so small and embarrassing."{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
^Inskeep, Steve (May 5, 2015). "Hop Along's 'Painted Shut' Invokes Two Mysterious Musicians". NPR. Retrieved November 23, 2024. SCARPELLI: Quinlan found out about Buddy Bolden, an African-American cornet player, in a memento mori class in college in which students reflect on mortality.
^Donelson, Marcy. "Painted Shut Review by Marcy Donelson". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2024. Right behind the singing, and consistent throughout the album, are catchy songs conveyed by tight, gritty instrumental performances that seduce and rouse. What's more, raw, unsparing lyrics tell stories of violence, poverty, and remorse and justify Quinlan's often exasperated husky rasp.
