Stands for Decibels
Studio album by
The dB's
ReleasedJanuary 15, 1981 (1981-01-15)
Recorded1980
Genre
Length34:36
LabelAlbion
Producer
The dB's chronology
Stands for Decibels
(1981)		 Repercussion
(1981)

Stands for Decibels is the debut studio album by American power pop band the dB's, released January 15, 1981 by Albion Records.[1] The album was commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed.[2]

At the time of its release, the dB's consisted of singer/guitarists Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder, and drummer Will Rigby. The songwriting was evenly divided between Stamey and Holsapple, although Stamey became known for writing the stranger, more avant-garde numbers ("She's Not Worried", "Espionage"), while Holsapple wrote the more accessible, poppier songs ("Black and White", "Bad Reputation").[3] Both Stamey and Holsapple played keyboards occasionally as well. Holder and Rigby did not receive any songwriting credits (other than a group credit for "Dynamite").

The album was dedicated to George Scott III. "Black and White" was released as the band's first single. I.R.S. Records reissued the album on CD in 1989.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Pitchfork9.0/10[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Smash Hits8/10[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[8]
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention))[9]
The Village VoiceA−[10]

In The Village Voice's year-end Pazz & Jop poll, Stands for Decibels was voted by critics as the 26th best album of 1981.[11]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Chris Woodstra stated: "On their debut, the dB's combined a reverence for British pop and arty, post-punk leanings that alternate between minimalism and a love of quirky embellishment, odd sounds, and unexpected twists; Stands for Decibels is clearly a collegiate pop experiment, but rarely is experimentation so enjoyable and irresistibly catchy."[5] He concluded that the album "stands not only as a landmark power pop album, but also as a prototype for much of the Southern jangle that would follow."[5] Stands for Decibels was ranked at number 76 on Pitchfork's list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.[12]

Track listing

Side 1

  1. "Black and White" (Peter Holsapple) – 3:09
  2. "Dynamite" (Gene Holder, Holsapple, Will Rigby, Chris Stamey) – 2:35
  3. "She's Not Worried" (Stamey) – 3:04
  4. "The Fight" (Holsapple) – 2:54
  5. "Espionage" (Stamey) – 2:39
  6. "Tearjerkin'" (Stamey) – 3:56

Side 2

  1. "Cycles per Second" (Stamey) – 3:06
  2. "Bad Reputation" (Holsapple) – 3:11
  3. "Big Brown Eyes" (Holsapple) – 1:58
  4. "I'm in Love" (Stamey) – 3:29
  5. "Moving in Your Sleep" (Holsapple) – 4:35

Some later CD versions (including the 1992 compilation dB's First/Repercussion) add two bonus tracks: "Baby Talk" (writer: Stamey, length: 1:50) as track 7, and "Judy" (writer: Holsapple, length: 2:48) as track 13.[13][14]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[15]

The dB's

Technical

References

  1. ↑ "Biography". thedbs.com. p. 4. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Dahlen, Chris (January 21, 2002). "The dB's: Stands for Decibels/Repercussion". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ Schulps, Dave; Robbins, Ira; Schinder, Scott. "dB's". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Stands for deciBels". thedbs.com. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Woodstra, Chris. "Stands for Decibels – The dB's". AllMusic. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  6. ↑ Considine, J. D. (1992). "The dB's". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 184. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  7. ↑ Hepworth, David (February 5–18, 1981). "The dB's: Stands for Decibels". Smash Hits. Vol. 3, no. 3. p. 29.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Steve (1995). "dB's". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 103–04. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  9. ↑ Hull, Tom (April 19, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  10. ↑ Christgau, Robert (May 4, 1981). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ "The 1981 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. February 1, 1982. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  12. ↑ "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. November 21, 2002. p. 3. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  13. ↑ Stands for Decibels. The dB's. Albion Records. 1987. ALCD 9.00009.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ↑ dB's First/Repercussion. The dB's. Line Records. 1992. LICD 9.21191 S.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ↑ Stands for Decibels (liner notes). The dB's. Albion Records. 1981. ALB 105.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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