Winter Pageant
| Winter Pageant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Label | K Records[1] | |||
| The Softies chronology | ||||
| ||||
Winter Pageant is an album by the American indie rock musical duo the Softies, released in 1997.[2][3] The sound was occasionally dismissed as "crush-core".[4] The duo supported the album with a North American tour.[5]
Production[edit]
The album was recorded without a rhythm section, with one or two guitars as accompaniment.[6][7] The majority of the songs deal with troubled relationships and broken friendships.[8]
Critical reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| Spin | 7/10[6] |
| Martin C. Strong | 5/10[10] |
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Jen Sbragia and Rose Melberg ... strum and twang guitars while delicately harmonizing, their lovely vocals masking bitter lyrics about broken relationships."[11] CMJ New Music Monthly thought that Melberg and Sbragia's voices "are complementary, but there's a cool space between them: a graceful austerity that creates some of the record's most sublime moments."[12] The Oregonian decided that "the Softies are saved from being mired between the twin evils of cutesy candy-coating and abject despair by a queer note of hope found in even their saddest stories."[13]
Spin called the album "music for indoor introverts—solitary souls who still write letters."[6] The Washington Post opined that it "combines '50s lounge music melodies with the '60s pop-rock harmonies of Softie Rose Melberg's previous band, the ebullient Tiger Trap."[14] The Lincoln Journal Star deemed Winter Pageant "deeply honest confessions of lost love, broken promises and lives adrift, set in quiet songs that are near lullabies, but have a lasting power."[15]
AllMusic wrote that "despite the melancholy tone, there is something hopeful in the Softies' resignation, a faith in perfect moments that is as strong as the knowledge of love's frailty."[9]
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pack Your Things and Go" | |
| 2. | "So Sad" | |
| 3. | "Over" | |
| 4. | "No One at All" | |
| 5. | "Tracks and Tunnels" | |
| 6. | "Excellent" | |
| 7. | "My Foolish Way" | |
| 8. | "The Best Days" | |
| 9. | "Fortune" | |
| 10. | "Splintered Hands" | |
| 11. | "About You" | |
| 12. | "Anywhere but Here" | |
| 13. | "Winter Pageant" | |
| 14. | "Make Up Your Mind" |
Personnel[edit]
- Rose Melberg
- Jen Sbragia
References[edit]
- ^ Baumgarten, Mark (July 10, 2012). Love Rock Revolution: K Records and the Rise of Independent Music. Sasquatch Books.
- ^ "Softies Biography". AllMusic.
- ^ Bresnark, Robin (Jan 25, 1997). "Winter Pageant". Melody Maker. Vol. 74, no. 4. p. 40.
- ^ Lewis, Scott D. (29 Jan 1997). "The Softies Winter Pageant". The Rocket. p. 20.
- ^ Daley, David (20 Mar 1997). "Winter Pageant The Softies". Recordings. Hartford Courant. p. 4.
- ^ a b c Huston, Johnny (Mar 1997). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 12, no. 12. pp. 102, 104.
- ^ Linn, Allison (17 Jan 1997). "The Softies". Entertainment. The Olympian. p. 4.
- ^ Imamura, Kevin (20 Mar 1997). "The Softies Winter Pageant". LA Weekly. p. 51.
- ^ a b "Winter Pageant". AllMusic.
- ^ Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography (2nd ed.). Canongate. p. 1030.
- ^ "Winter Pageant". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Clayton, Liz (Apr 1997). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 44. p. 42.
- ^ Foyston, John (February 28, 1997). "Simple Songs of Love and Loss". Arts and Entertainment. The Oregonian. p. 40.
- ^ Jenkins, Mark (19 Mar 1997). "The Softies". The Washington Post. p. D7.
- ^ Wolgamott, L. Kent (9 Mar 1997). "The Grammys are over, now it's critics' turn". Lincoln Journal Star. p. 10.
