Suburban Rock 'n' Roll
| Suburban Rock 'n' Roll | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Space | ||||
| Released | 8 March 2004 | |||
| Recorded | June-July 2002 | |||
| Studio | Highfield Street Studios, Liverpool | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia | |||
| Length | 40:15 | |||
| Label | RandM, Pinnacle | |||
| Producer | Stephen Lironi | |||
| Space chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Leeds Music Scene | link |
Suburban Rock 'n' Roll is the third (fourth if you count the unreleased Love You More than Football) studio album by Space, released on 8 March 2004. It is their first proper album release since 1998's Tin Planet. The tracks "Zombies", "Suburban Rock 'N' Roll" and "20 Million Miles from Earth" were released as singles, all of them failing to reach top 40.
For this album Space ditched the polished, commercial-friendly sound that inhabited Tin Planet and Love You More than Football and returned to the darker style of their debut Spiders. Tommy Scott's lyrical themes also changed, as they aim to move away from the character-driven lyrics of old and are a lot more impressionist, with songs dealing with death, crime and surveillance amongst other serious and controversial themes. The band also reunited with Spiders' producer Stephen Lironi, who is credited as songwriter of a few tracks, though Scott has insisted he wrote all the material himself.
Suburban Rock 'N' Roll is the first Space album with no techno/electronic instrumentals from Franny Griffiths, as the band wanted the album to be more song-oriented.
The album was not a great success, as public interest had waned in the band almost six years previously, and promotion for the record was almost non-existent. Despite the failure of both album and singles, the album remains a favourite amongst fans, with even former band member Jamie Murphy dubbing it the "best Space album".[1]
Track listing
- "Suburban Rock 'N' Roll" (Scott/Space/Lironi) – 3:34
- "Zombies" (Scott/Space/Lironi) – 3:54
- "Hitch Hiking" (Scott/Space) – 3:10
- "Punk Rock Funeral" (Scott/Space) – 3:17
- "Hell's Barbecue" (Scott/Space) – 4:20
- "Paranoid 6teen" (Scott/Space) – 3:35
- "The English Language Let Me Down" (Scott/Space/Lironi) – 3:44
- "Pretty Suicide" (Scott/Space) – 3:39
- "20 Million Miles from Earth" (Scott/Space/Lironi) – 2:57
- "Quiet Beach" (Scott/Space) – 4:34
- "The Goodbye Song" (Scott/Space) – 3:28
- All lead vocals: Tommy Scott
Personnel
Space:
- Tommy Scott – lead vocals, guitar
- Franny Griffiths – keyboards, electronics, backing vocals
- Dave "Yorkie" Palmer – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Leon Caffrey – drums
Additional Musicians:
- Stephen Lironi – additional guitar, keyboards
- Ged Lynch – percussion
Production:
- Stephen Lironi – producer
- Doug Trantow – engineering & mixing
- Jack Jelfs – assistance
- Alan Yoshida – mastering
- Mark Cowley @ HUG Management – management
- Tommy Scott – original artwork
- Dave "Yorkie" Palmer – layout & design
- Roy Elridge & Mike Andrews @ RandM – record label