Wildewoman

Wildewoman
Studio album by Lucius
Released October 15, 2013
Genre Indie pop
Length 43:50
Label PIAS, Mom + Pop, Dine Alone
Producer Lucius
Lucius chronology
Wildewoman
(2013)		 Good Grief
(2016)

Wildewoman is the 2013 debut album by Brooklyn indie pop band Lucius. It was released on PIAS Recordings, Mom + Pop Music and Dine Alone Records to mostly positive reviews, drawing numerous comparisons to the girl groups of the 1960s. Reviewers also praised the album's eclectic mix of musical styles, as well as the vocal performances of lead singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. The album peaked at number 150 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Packaging and title

The album's cover artwork is a 1964 painting by Belgian pop artist Evelyne Axell, titled Ice Cream. In selecting the image, Wolfe and Laessig drew inspiration from other iconic, provocative album covers including Sticky Fingers and Nevermind. Laessig said "At the time, [Axell] was making a statement that was incredibly bold, and we think our show is bold, we’re strong women. There’s nothing shy about the way that we sound and the way we put ourselves out there. It’s a strong image. And if you’re looking at fifteen record covers on iTunes, what’s going to stick out to you?"[1]

The album title was taken from the song of the same name and was intended to evoke "free-spirited women". It is pronounced analogously to "wildebeest".[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Consequence of SoundC+[3]
Paste(9/10)[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Wildewoman received generally positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the vocal performances and girl group-inspired sound. In a review for Paste, Hilary Saunders wrote that the album was successful in "reintroducing retro girl-group swag to the 21st century at a time when it’s most needed" and went on to call it "one of the most complete indie pop LPs this year".[4] James Christopher Monger of AllMusic praised the album's fusion of styles and the "commanding performances" of Wolfe and Laessig,[2] while Will Hermes' review for Rolling Stone described the album's sound as "fresh" and "thrilling".[5] Writing for Consequence of Sound, Tony Hardy gave the album a more reserved assessment but noted that the band "spins some intriguing sounds".[3]

Wildewoman also appeared on a number of year-end best album lists, including those compiled by Bob Boilen of NPR's All Songs Considered[6] and the music staff at Amazon.com.[7]

Track listing

All songs were written by Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe unless otherwise noted.

  1. "Wildewoman" – 4:11
  2. "Turn It Around" – 3:28
  3. "Go Home" – 3:19
  4. "Hey, Doreen" – 4:41
  5. "Tempest" – 4:09 (Laessig/Molad/Wolfe)
  6. "Nothing Ordinary" – 3:01
  7. "Two of Us on the Run" – 4:35
  8. "Until We Get There" – 3:28 (Laessig/Molad/Wolfe)
  9. "Don't Just Sit There" – 3:51
  10. "Monsters" – 3:29
  11. "How Loud Your Heart Gets" – 5:38

Personnel

Lucius
  • Jess Wolfe – Lead vocals
  • Holly Laessig – Lead vocals
  • Dan Molad – Drums
  • Peter Lalish – Guitar
  • Andrew Burri – Guitar
Additional musicians
  • Alan Hampton – Bass
  • Adam Christgau – Percussion
  • Gabriel Duncan – Guitar, Vocals
  • Jessica Martins – Backing vocals
  • Blake Mills – Guitar
  • Leital Molad – Backing vocals
  • Shelley Molad – Backing vocals
  • Chris Morrissey – Bass
  • Michaela Neller – Backing vocals
  • Sydney Price – Backing vocals
  • Rich Hinman – Guitar
  • Heather Robb – Backing vocals
  • Eric Robertson – Tenor guitar
Production
  • Lucius – production, engineering
  • Tony Berg – additional production
  • Steve Wall – additional production, engineering
  • Shawn Everett – engineering, mixing
  • Jacob Goldman – engineering
  • David Kahne – mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

Chart performance

Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 150[8]
US Top Heatseekers (Billboard) 5[8]
US Independent Albums (Billboard) 36[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Poitras, Andrew (September 10, 2013). "Wildewoman: Lucius dissect the how and why of their debut album". Death and Taxes. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Monger, James Christopher. "Wildewoman - Lucius". AllMusic. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Hardy, Tony (October 17, 2013). "Album Review: Lucius – Wildewoman". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Saunders, Hilary (October 15, 2013). "Lucius: Wildewoman". Paste. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Hermes, Will (November 1, 2013). "Lucius, 'Wildewoman'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ Boilen, Bob (December 16, 2013). "Bob Boilen's Top 20 Albums of 2013". NPR. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2013". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 "Wildewoman - Lucius: Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
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