Icky Mettle

Infobox Album | Name = Icky Mettle
Type = Album
Artist = Archers of Loaf
Released = 1993
Recorded = 1993
Genre = Indie rock
Length = 38:02
Label = Alias Records
Producer = Caleb Southern
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:9zavqj3uojaa~T1 link]
*"The Michigan Daily" (Favorable) [http://www.michigandaily.com/media/paper851/news/2003/09/25/TheStatement/A.Decade.Later.Icky.Mettle.Still.An.IndieRock.Milestone-1418817.shtml?norewrite200603172332&sourcedomain=www.michigandaily.com link]
*Web In Front (Favorable) [http://webinfront.net/?p=185]
*Robert Christgau (A) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=68&name=Archers+of+Loaf link] |Last album =
This album = "Icky Mettle" (1993)
Next album = "Vs The Greatest Of All Time " (1994) |

"Icky Mettle" (1993) is the first studio album recorded by the indie rock band Archers of Loaf. It was produced and engineered by Caleb Southern at Kraptone Studios in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and released by Alias Records in 1993.

The album was recorded and mixed in seven days. According to Eric Bachmann, "We spent like $5,000 to make it." [http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/1996/032896/loaf.html]

The album spent 22 weeks on the CMJ charts. "Interview" declared it the "Best Indie Rock Album of the Year". ref|aids Also, it ranked #32 in Pitchfork Media's original Top 100 albums of the 1990s list. [http://tclub.obninsk.ru/psb/pitchforkmedia.html] "Blender" ranked it at #56 in their 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums ever list. [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=2978]

In a 2005 interview with "The Triangle", Bachmann reflected on the album rather unpretentiously: "When we first came out we had that energy. It's a weird thing that you can't put your finger on...I listened to 'Icky Mettle', and I almost cringe when I hear it. But what the people probably liked when they heard that record was the energy we were putting out." [http://www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2005/04/08/Entertainment/Bachmann.Spills.Beans.To.Triangle-917563.shtml?norewrite200609030054&sourcedomain=www.thetriangle.org]

Track listing

#"Web in Front" – 2:09
#"Last Word" – 3:35
#"Wrong" – 3:40
#"You and Me" – 3:10
#"Might" – 2:04
#"Hate Paste" – 2:46
#"Fat" – 1:19
#"Plumb Line" – 2:09
#"Learo, You're a Hole" – 3:51
#"Sick File" – 1:42
#"Toast" – 4:38
#"Backwash" – 3:27
#"Slow Worm" – 3:32

Personnel

*Eric Bachmann - vocals, guitar
*Matt Gentling - bass
*Eric Johnson - guitar
*Mark Price - drums

Notes

# cite web | author=Brown, Liz | title=ROCK REVIEW: Archers Revolution | work=WWeek.com | url=http://www.wweek.com/html/musica102898.html | accessmonthday=June 7 | accessyear=2006
# cite web | author=Hawthorne, Mark | title=ARCHERS OF LOAF VS. TINNITUS: A three week vacation in Paradise | work=The Online Daily of the University of Washington | url=http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/1996/032896/loaf.html | accessmonthday=September 3 | accessyear=2006
# cite web | author=Carrelli, Jon | title=Bachmann spills beans to Triangle | work = The Triangle (newspaper) | url=http://www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2005/04/08/Entertainment/Bachmann.Spills.Beans.To.Triangle-917563.shtml?norewrite200609030054&sourcedomain=www.thetriangle.org | accessmonthday=September 3 | accessyear=2006