The Raincoats (album)

The Raincoats
Studio album by The Raincoats
Released	3 November 1979
Recorded	1979 at Berry Street Studio, Clerkenwell, London
Genre	Post-punk
Length	34:27
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	Geoff Travis, Mayo Thompson, The Raincoats
The Raincoats chronology
The Raincoats (1979) Odyshape (1981)

The Raincoats is the debut studio album by English rock band The Raincoats. It was released in 1979 on Rough Trade Records. The album is perhaps best known for its off-kilter cover of "Lola" by The Kinks. The album's seventh track, "The Void", was notably covered by Hole in 1994.

In May 2010 the band performed the album in its entirety in London.^[1]

Background

The cover painting is by Pang Hsiao-Li.

Release

The Raincoats was re-released by Rough Trade in 1994, with liner notes by Kurt Cobain. The album was again re-released on 9 November 2009 on vinyl with a free mp3 download and an extra track, "Fairytale in the Supermarket", as well as a special edition bonus CD, including live footage from 1977 and 1979 and a video of "Fairytale in the Supermarket" on We ThRee, the band's own label in the UK and on the Kill Rock Stars label in the USA.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Drowned in Sound	9/10[3]
Robert Christgau	B+[4]
Smash Hits	7/10[5]

AllMusic praised the album, writing, "this music, even at its most dissonant, is stunning and captivating."^[2] Kurt Cobain listed it in his top fifty albums of all time.^[6][7]

Track listing

All songs written by The Raincoats, except where noted.

Side A

1. "No Side to Fall In" – 1:47
2. "Adventures Close to Home" – 1:54 (Viv Albertine, Tessa Pollitt, Arianne Forster, Paloma Romero)
3. "Off Duty Trip" – 3:14
4. "Black and White" – 2:29
5. "Lola" (Ray Davies) – 4:03

Side B

1. "The Void" – 3:51
2. "Life on the Line" – 4:22 (lyrics by Ross Crighton and The Raincoats)
3. "You're a Million" – 3:53
4. "In Love" – 3:05
5. "No Looking" – 3:05 (lyrics translated and adapted by The Raincoats from a poem by Jacques Prévert)

"Fairytale in the Supermarket", The Raincoats' first single, is included on all reissues of the album as an opening track since 1993.

Personnel

• Ana da Silva – vocals, keyboards and guitar
• Gina Birch – vocals and bass guitar
• Palmolive – drums
• Vicky Aspinall – vocals, guitar, bass guitar and violin
• Lora Logic – saxophone on "Black and White"
• Adam Kidron - engineer

References

1. ↑ Review of The Raincoats London 2010 performance on 'Bearded' Magazine
2. 1 2 Dougan, John. "The Raincoats - The Raincoats: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards: AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 August 2012. 
3. ↑ Power, Chris (13 November 2009). "The Raincoats - The Raincoats / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 3 August 2012. 
4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: The Raincoats". Retrieved 13 June 2013. 
5. ↑ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (January 24 – February 6 1980): 21. 
6. ↑ "Top 50 by Nirvana [MIXTAPE]". Retrieved 8 May 2013. 
7. ↑ Cross, Gaar, Gendron, Martens, Yarm (2013). Nirvana: The Complete Illustrated History. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-7603-4521-4.  CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)