Undercard (album)

Undercard
Studio album by The Extra Lens
Released	2010
Genre	Indie rock, folk
Label	Merge Records[1]
The Extra Lens chronology
Martial Arts Weekend (2002) Undercard (2010)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(77%)[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Robert Christgau	A−[5]
Pitchfork	7.9/10[6]
SPIN	[3]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[7]

Undercard is an album by indie-rock band The Extra Lens, a band made up John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno.[8][9] The album was released on October 19, 2010.

Production

Darnielle recorded his parts, after which Bruno added more instrumentation.[10]

Reception

Reception to Undercard was generally positive, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[2]

PopMatters wrote that "not all of the compositions here reach their potential, but Bruno almost consistently nails his efforts to create the right mood for Darnielle’s storytelling."[11]

Track listing

1. "Adultery"
2. "Cruiserweights"
3. "Only Existing Footage"
4. "Communicating Doors"
5. "Programmed Cell Death"
6. "How I Left the Ministry"
7. "Some Other Way"
8. "Ambivalent Landscape Z"
9. "In Germany Before the War" (Randy Newman cover)
10. "Tug on the Line"
11. "Rockin’ Rockin’ Twilight of the Gods"
12. "Dogs of Clinic 17"

References

1. "Merge Records". www.mergerecords.com.
2. "Undercard by The Extra Lens" – via www.metacritic.com.
3. Young, Jon. "The Extra Lens, 'Undercard' (Merge) Bracing storytelling that could rock a Pushcart Prize". SPIN. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
4. Hoffman, K. Ross. "Undercard - The Extra Lens (AllMusic)". AllMusic. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
5. "Robert Christgau: Album: The Extra Lens: Undercard". www.robertchristgau.com.
6. "The Extra Lens: Undercard". Pitchfork.
7. "Music Review: The Extra Lens - Undercard". Tiny Mix Tapes.
8. "First Listen: The Extra Lens, 'Undercard'". NPR.org.
9. "The Extra Lens | Biography & History". AllMusic.
10. "Undercard | Prefixmag.com".
11. "The Extra Lens: Undercard". PopMatters. October 20, 2010.