Track Listing
1. My Purity
2. Got to Be a Bore
3. Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)
4. Drag Queens of Memphis, The
5. I Am Anastasia
6. Silence Is Their Drug
7. Have You Seen Mary
8. My Baby Said
9. Death of a Drag Queen, The
10. Velveteen
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Richard Butler | | Producer: | Sponge, Tim Patalan | | Distributor: | Sony Music Distribution ( | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Sponge: Vinnie Dombroski (vocals, acoustic guitar, drums); Mike Cross (acoustic & electric guitars, bass); Joey Mazzola (electric & slide guitars); Tim Cross (bass); Charlie Grover (drums).
Additional personnel: Richard Butler (vocals); Tim Patalan (cello); Johnny Evans (alto, tenor & baritone saxophones); Mando Dorame, Donald Hayes (saxophone); Anne King (trumpet); Steve Baxter (trombone); Chris Codish (piano).
Engineers: Tim Patalan, Jamie Seyberth, Steve King.
Recorded at The Loft, Saline, Michigan; Track Records, North Hollywood, California; United Sound, Detroit, Michigan.
On its second full-length, this Detroit modern-rock band sticks to the basic formula that worked so well the first time around, while still managing to stake out some new sonic territory. As on its debut, ROTTING PINATA, Sponge gives away its hometown roots in the garage-rock residue that underlies many of the songs. But here, in ballads such as "Have You Seen Mary" and "The Death Of A Drag Queen," Sponge adds the Motown sound as additional inspiration. On those songs, soulful saxophones and lulling pianos sneak into Sponge's glam-punk, creating the aura of a smoky speakeasy deep in the city.
Vinnie Dombroski's emotive tenor is a perfect vehicle for this amalgamation of R&B and punk. On "I Am Anastasia," he gets a backup vocal boost from Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs.
Editorial Reviews
3 Stars - Good - ...contains a few guilty pleasures, including not one but four songs about drag queens...
Rolling Stone
3 Stars - Good - Combining polish with sleaze, this...is updated '70s guitar rock with artistic leanings--where Iggy meets Bowie with some early Psychedelic Furs rawness....bluesy slide guitars mix with cello, brass and sax...
Q (09/01/1996)
3 Stars - Good - ...contains a few guilty pleasures, including not one but four songs about drag queens...Q (9/96, p.122) - 3 Stars - Good - Combining polish with sleaze, this...is updated '70s guitar rock with artistic leanings--where Iggy meets Bowie with some early Psychedelic Furs rawness....bluesy slide guitars mix with cello, brass and sax...
Rolling Stone
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