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{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
{{Infobox album
Name = Wiggle |
Type = [[Album]] |
| name = Wiggle
Artist = [[Screeching Weasel]] |
| type = Studio album
| artist = [[Screeching Weasel]]
Cover = Screechingweaselwiggle.jpg
| cover = Screechingweaselwiggle.jpg
|
Released = 1993 |
| alt =
| released = January 15, 1993
Recorded = 1992 |
| recorded = June–August 1992
Genre = [[Punk rock]], [[pop punk]] |
| studio = Sonic Iguana (Lafayette, Ind.)
Label = [[Lookout! Records|Lookout!]], [[Asian Man Records|Asian Man]] |
Producer = [[Mass Giorgini]] |
| genre = [[Punk rock]]
| length = 37:56
Reviews = *[[Allmusic]] {{Rating|4|5}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8l66mpzd9f8o link]
| label = [[Lookout Records|Lookout]] (LK 063)<br/>[[Asian Man Records|Asian Man]] (AM 122)<br/>[[Recess Records|Recess]] (RR 119)
|
| producer = [[Mass Giorgini]]
Last album = ''[[Ramones (Screeching Weasel album)|Ramones]]''<br />(1992) |
| prev_title = [[Ramones (Screeching Weasel album)|Ramones]]
This album = '''''Wiggle'''''<br />(1993) |
| prev_year = 1992
Next album = ''[[Anthem for a New Tomorrow]]''<br />(1993) |
| next_title = [[Anthem for a New Tomorrow]]
}}
| next_year = 1993
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r178422|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]</ref>
}}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot-->
'''''Wiggle''''' is the fifth studio album by the [[Chicago]]-based [[punk rock]] band [[Screeching Weasel]]. Initially planned for release in November 1992,<ref name="Enemies liner">Screeching Weasel - ''[[How to Make Enemies and Irritate People]]'' liner notes. Retrieved 2016-07-03</ref> the album was finally released on CD, vinyl and cassette on January 15, 1993, through [[Lookout Records]]. Due to a "cymbal hissing" in the original vinyl version, the album was remixed and re-released soon afterwards.<ref name="Enemies liner"/>


After the band's popularity had grown with their previous album ''[[My Brain Hurts]]'', the group felt pressured with the follow-up album.<ref name="Thank You liner">Screeching Weasel - ''[[Thank You Very Little]]'' liner notes. Retrieved 2016-07-02</ref> While most of ''Wiggle'' is in a similar vein to their previous album, some songs saw the band experimenting with [[New wave music|new wave]] and a few featured a more [[Hardcore punk|hardcore]]-influenced sound reminiscent of the group's earlier material. In retrospect, vocalist [[Ben Weasel]] has voiced dissatisfaction with the album, mainly the songs that were chosen for it.<ref name="Thank You liner"/> However, he considers the band's performance and the album's production better than ''My Brain Hurts''.<ref name="Enemies liner"/>
'''''Wiggle''''' is the fourth full length album by Chicago's [[Screeching Weasel]], and their second for California-based [[Lookout! Records]]. Their previous album, [[My Brain Hurts]], had seen a sharp rise in the band's popularity and a shift in sound towards mid-tempo pop songs. With ''Wiggle'', the band shifted gears yet again. Though several tracks retained the catchy, pop-punk sound, many others saw the band venturing into experiments with [[New Wave music|New Wave]] and some of the harder-edged sounds of the early LPs. Another major change was the amount of collaboration in songwriting. Rather than [[Ben Weasel]] being the sole author of the majority of the songs, ''Wiggle'' features a few credited to the entire band, one by guitarist Danny Vapid, and a couple with bassist (for only this album) Johnny Personality. In addition to this, there are three songs co-written by [[Joe King]] of [[The Queers]], which were also recorded by his band. The album was received to mixed fanfare. Many expected a continuation of the previous album and were surprised by the experimentation and harder-edged production. Since its initial release, many of the songs have come to be regarded as the band's best. Others have not held up so well over time. The band has voiced some regrets about the recording of the album, which allowed each member a voice in the mixing of specific songs and resulted in a less cohesive sound. There have also been regrets about the songs chosen for the album in recent years. After a short time of being out of print, the album was remastered by producer [[Mass Giorgini]] and re-released with one extra track on [[Asian Man Records]] in 2005.


The album was remastered and reissued by [[Asian Man Records]] in 2005 shortly after the band had removed its catalog from Lookout due to unpaid royalties and a vinyl version was released by [[Recess Records]] in 2009.
==Track listing==
# "Hanging Around" (Screeching Weasel) – 3:31
# "I'm Not in Love" (Weasel) – 2:00
# "One Step Beyond" (Weasel) – 3:04
# "I Was a High School Psychopath" (Vapid) – 2:07
# "Crying in My Beer" (Weasel) – 3:51
# "Slomotion" (Personality/Weasel) – 1:20
# "Like a Parasite" (King/Weasel) – 3:20
# "Joanie Loves Johnny" (Weasel) – 1:58
# "Second Floor East" (Weasel) – 2:58
# "Automatic Rejector" (Screeching Weasel) – 1:49
# "Jeannie's Got a Problem With Her Uterus" (Weasel) – 2:04
# "Sad Little Girl" (Personality/Vapid/Weasel) – 2:57
# "Ain't Got No Sense" (Kerr/Lewis/Mahon/Stipanitz) – 3:46
# "It's All in My Head" (Weasel) – 3:11
# "Teenage Slumber Party" (Jughead/Weasel) – 2:24 *
# "Danny Is a Wimp" (King/Weasel) – 1:00 *
# "Going Home" (Cometbus/Weasel) – 2:42 *
# "Fuck the World" (King/Weasel) **


==Background==
* Only available on CD release
Shortly after the recording of ''[[My Brain Hurts]]'', bassist Dave Naked was fired from the band at the insistence of guitarist [[Dan Vapid]]<ref name="Thank You liner"/> and was initially replaced by Scott "Gub" Conway, who toured with the band in support of the album. Conway himself was replaced after the tour by [[The Vindictives|Vindictives]] bassist Johnny Personality, who vocalist [[Ben Weasel]] considered an “outstanding bass player".<ref name="Musicians liner">[[Screeching Weasel]] - ''[[Kill the Musicians]]'' liner notes. Retrieved 2016-07-02</ref> Weasel had briefly played with The Vindictives in 1990 on their first EP and Personality auditioned for Weasel and [[John Pierson (musician)|John Jughead]]'s band the Gore Gore Girls during Screeching Weasel's brief break-up the same year.<ref name="Musicians liner"/> In February 1992, the band went to engineer [[Steve Albini]]'s house in [[Chicago]] to record demos for their next album, with Albini serving as engineer and [[Naked Raygun]] drummer Eric Spicer producing.<ref name="Musicians liner"/> Two of the songs from the session, "Crying in My Beer" and "Jeannie's Got a Problem with Her Uterus", were re-recorded for ''Wiggle'', while "Going Home" was released on a split EP with the [[Pink Lincolns]] (and later released on the CD version of the album) and "Celena" was featured on the compilation album ''It's a Punk Thing, You Wouldn't Understand''.<ref name="Musicians liner"/>
** Only available on 2005 re-release


== Personnel ==
==Recording==
In June 1992, the band went to Sonic Iguana Studios in [[Lafayette, Indiana]], to record ''Wiggle'' with studio owner [[Mass Giorgini]] producing. Giorgini would go on to produce several of the band's later albums and also served as their bassist from 1996 to 2001. The band recorded several songs during the sessions, including the non-album single "[[Radio Blast]]" and its b-side "The Girl Next Door",<ref name="Musicians liner"/> a re-working of the song "Cindy's on Methadone" titled "Shirley's on Methadone" for a film called ''Shirley Pimple'' (which was never released as the director ended up in prison)<ref name="Thank You liner"/> and a cover of the song "Achtung" by the band The Authorities for a tribute album (which was also never released).<ref name="Musicians liner"/> Another song from the session, "Amy Saw Me Looking at Her Boobs", originated as a composition by Joe King (Joe Queer) of [[The Queers]] from 1990 that Weasel finished.<ref name="Thank You liner"/> The song was later re-worked by The Queers as "Fuck the World" on their album ''[[Love Songs for the Retarded]]'', which Screeching Weasel also recorded a version of. Weasel later called the sessions for the album an "enormous pain in the ass" due to the long recording process and that he "wasn't singing like [him]self",<ref name="Thank You liner"/> saying his vocals on the album were "horrible."<ref name="Enemies liner"/> He also stated that he was having relationship problems with his girlfriend at the time of the recording, which resulted in "fucking up [his] head" and having "no idea what should go on the album and what shouldn't."<ref name="Thank You liner"/>
[[Ben Weasel]] - vocals<br />
[[John Jughead|Jughead]] - guitar<br />
[[Danny Vapid]] - guitar/backing vocals<br />
Johnny Personality - bass<br />
[[Dan Panic]] - drums<br />


== The songs ==
==Track listing==
{{track listing
{{Inappropriate tone|date=December 2007}}
| headline = Side one
{{Unreferenced|date=October 2007}}
| all_writing = [[Ben Weasel]], except where noted
| title1 = Hanging Around
| note1 = written by Screeching Weasel
| length1 = 3:31
| title2 = I'm Not in Love
| length2 = 2:00
| title3 = One Step Beyond
| length3 = 3:04
| title4 = I Was a High School Psychopath
| note4 = written by [[Dan Vapid]]
| length4 = 2:07
| title5 = Crying in My Beer
| length5 = 3:51
| title6 = Slomotion
| note6 = written by Johnny Personality and Weasel
| length6 = 1:20
| title7 = Like a Parasite
| note7 = written by Weasel and Joe King
| length7 = 3:20
}}


{{track listing
Right from the opening track, '''Wiggle''' shows that this will be a very different Screeching Weasel experience. The intro to "Hanging Around" resulted from the whole band jamming, something that had never previously been recorded as part of a Screeching Weasel song. Like some other songs on the record, it has a vaguely New Wave feel to it, though still firmly rooted in the punk Weasel had become known for. The guitar leads that also made up the band's trademark sound are once again to be found in most of the songs, but this time around they sometimes harmonize with either a lead played by the second guitar or bass. The band was never known for its musicianship, but '''Wiggle''' helped demonstrate that this was no simple three-chord band. The different styles experimented on through the album have caused some to call it disjointed and messy, a sentiment the band themselves may not completely disagree with. The strength of the songwriting, however, has held up very well over time and this album is still ranked among the band's classics.
| headline = Side two
| title8 = Joanie Loves Johnny
| length8 = 1:58
| title9 = Second Floor East
| length9 = 2:58
| title10 = Automatic Rejector
| note10 = written by Screeching Weasel
| length10 = 1:49
| title11 = Jeannie's Got a Problem with Her Uterus
| length11 = 2:04
| title12 = Sad Little Girl
| note12 = written by Weasel, Vapid and Personality
| length12 = 2:57
| title13 = Ain't Got No Sense
| note13 = written by Frank Kerr, Gord Lewis, Steve Mahon and Nick Stipanitz; originally performed by [[Teenage Head (band)|Teenage Head]]
| length13 = 3:46
| title14 = It's All in My Head
| length14 = 3:11
}}


{{track listing
The introspective lyric style Weasel employed on many of [[My Brain Hurts]]' best tracks returns for this album, starting immediately with "Hanging Around." This opening track finds Weasel questioning where his life is headed in relation to those around him and his new, school-aged fans being taught by his own ex-classmates. He dives even further into the isolation explored on the final track of the previous album, and finds no real answers to any of his questions, just a repeated chorus of "I don't know"s. Later in the album, "Second Floor East" and "Sad Little Girl" address the same isolation and loneliness. Both tell stories of a depressed girl, the former trying to lose herself in empty television and hoping for the best when it seems "like every day it slips a little more and fades"; the latter is in an even worse state as Weasel sings to her "you'll never change anything so start sharpening your claws." Weasel wrote years later that this was a very turbulent time in his own personal life, and his conflicting emotions show through very clearly in the album's bleakest lyrics.
| headline = Lookout CD bonus tracks
| extra_column = Original appearance
| title15 = Teenage Slumber Party
| extra15 = ''Achtung Chicago'' compilation (1989)
| length15 = 2:25
| title16 = Danny Is a Wimp
| note16 = written by King
| extra16 = Previously unreleased
| length16 = 0:59
| title17 = Going Home
| note17 = lyrics by [[Aaron Cometbus]]
| extra17 = ''Screeching Weasel / [[Pink Lincolns]]'' split EP (1993)
| length17 = 2:41
}}


{{track listing
In contrast to these dark themes are plenty of light-hearted and upbeat songs. "I'm Not in Love" proclaims its independence from the girls telling Weasel what to look like in commercials. "I Was a High School Psychopath," penned by Danny Vapid, is an anthem for all distressed high school punks and was inspired by Lookout! owner Lawrence Livermore's own failed attempt at blowing up his school. "Like a Parasite" is a short, fun ode to lecherousness. "Joanie Loves Johnny" is a hilarious alternate take on the characters of Happy Days, delivered in true Ramones/50s pop style. It also features some of Weasel and Vapid's finest vocal harmonizing, one of the band's greatest strengths and what helped set them apart from the legions of other pop-punk bands.
| headline = Asian Man bonus track
| extra_column = Original appearance
| title18 = Fuck the World
| note18 = written by Weasel and King
| extra18 = Previously unreleased
| length18 = 2:10
}}


==Personnel==
"Automatic Rejector" and "Jeannie's Got a Problem With Her Uterus" fit perfectly into the Weasel mode of songs that make a very distinct point through humor. "Rejector" attacks the arrogant, macho type going after girls. The song imagines him in a role reversal where the woman in question whips out a gun and tells him "why don't you suck on this." Weasel noted that the song was a play on "Automatic Lover" by the Vibrators. "Jeannie" is filled with silly rhymes and is delivered in a very playful tone, but is about a woman's repeated failed attempts to conceive a child. It's one of Weasel's finest anti-PC moments that still manages to touch on a real human concern.
* [[Ben Weasel]]&nbsp;– [[Lead vocalist|lead vocals]]
* [[John Pierson (musician)|John Jughead]]&nbsp;– [[lead guitar]]
* [[Dan Vapid|Danny Vapid]]&nbsp;– [[rhythm guitar]], [[Backing vocalist|backing vocals]], bass on "Teenage Slumber Party"
* Johnny Personality&nbsp;– [[Bass guitar|bass]]
* [[Dan Panic]]&nbsp;– [[Drum kit|drums]]


'''Additional performers'''
Straddling the line between joke and serious heartbreak is "Crying In My Beer." Many of the lyrics are jokey, but the overall tone of the song is heartbreaking. It also contains some of Weasel's most vicious and hilarious lyrics, such as "if you were a TV show, baby, you would've been cancelled due to declining viewership, recycled plots and bad acting." Yet again, it's a wonderful example of Weasel's ability to convey honest emotion through humor, without ever sacrificing the meaning to silliness or drama.
* Doug Ward&nbsp;– rhythm guitar on "Teenage Slumber Party"
* Brian Vermin&nbsp;– drums on "Teenage Slumber Party"


'''Production'''
"One Step Beyond" is a continuation of Weasel's attacks on the punk scene from the previous albums. He sees the "rebellious" punks swarming around him as "another gang of whitebread privileged kids" and makes it very clear that he wants nothing to do with them. As on the rest of the record, Weasel is brutal in his insults, never willing to play the part of musician who feels the need to pander to a crowd who choose to buy his band's records. "Slomotion" is an anomaly on the record, a fast, almost hardcore tune with lyrics that seem to have a slight political tone.
* [[Mass Giorgini]]&nbsp;– [[Record producer|producer]], [[Audio engineering|engineer]]
* Todd Barrett&nbsp;– album layout
* [[Martin Sorrondeguy]]; Dan Mueller&nbsp;– photography
* Eric Spicer&nbsp;– producer on "Going Home"
* [[Steve Albini]]&nbsp;– engineer on "Going Home"


==References==
"Ain't Got No Sense" is a cover of the punk band [[Teenage Head (band)|Teenage Head]]. It fits perfectly within a Screeching Weasel record. Weasel later described TH as "the bridge between the [[Ramones]] and bands like [[The Flamin' Groovies]] and [[The Barracudas]]."
{{reflist}}

"It's All in My Head" ends the album proper on another serious note, with Weasel taking stock of several things in his everyday life and seeing them ultimately add up to nothing (much like in the opening track, "Hanging Around"). The difference is that, on the album's closer, he sees that these issues are mostly internal and he wishes for them to stay that way. It wraps the album up nicely thematically, though CD versions of '''Wiggle''' contained several bonus tracks after it.

The bonus tracks of the original, Lookout!, CD release are "Teenage Slumber Party", "Danny is a Wimp", and "Going Home." The first two are more on the silly side. "Teenage Slumber Party" actually dates from 1989, before the band broke up for the first time. "Danny" is a lyrically re-worked version of a song by [[The Queers]]. The lyrics to "Going Home" were written by [[Aaron Cometbus]] of [[Crimpshrine]], and the music by Weasel. The song addresses the issue of women feeling threatened by men on the street whether or not they actually mean them any harm. It's an interesting nod to the increasingly hostile environment our society has created for women, and is much closer in theme and style to one of Cometbus's bands than Weasel. The recording was taken from a demo for the album recorded by [[Steve Albini]].

The 2005 re-release of the album saw the inclusion of "Fuck the World", another song co-written by Joe of [[The Queers]]. SW had recorded another version of the song entitled "Amy Saw Me Looking At Her Boobs" during the '''Wiggle''' sessions. [[The Queers]] released their version of the song on their album [[Love Songs for the Retarded]].


{{Screeching_Weasel}}
{{Screeching_Weasel}}

{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Screeching Weasel albums]]
[[Category:Screeching Weasel albums]]
[[Category:1992 albums]]
[[Category:1993 albums]]
[[Category:Lookout! Records albums]]
[[Category:Lookout! Records albums]]
[[Category:Asian Man Records albums]]
[[Category:Asian Man Records albums]]

Latest revision as of 10:55, 26 July 2023

Wiggle
Studio album by
Screeching Weasel
ReleasedJanuary 15, 1993
RecordedJune–August 1992
StudioSonic Iguana (Lafayette, Ind.)
GenrePunk rock
Length37:56
LabelLookout (LK 063)
Asian Man (AM 122)
Recess (RR 119)
ProducerMass Giorgini
Screeching Weasel chronology
Ramones
(1992) 		Wiggle
(1993) 		Anthem for a New Tomorrow
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Wiggle is the fifth studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. Initially planned for release in November 1992,[2] the album was finally released on CD, vinyl and cassette on January 15, 1993, through Lookout Records. Due to a "cymbal hissing" in the original vinyl version, the album was remixed and re-released soon afterwards.[2]

After the band's popularity had grown with their previous album My Brain Hurts, the group felt pressured with the follow-up album.[3] While most of Wiggle is in a similar vein to their previous album, some songs saw the band experimenting with new wave and a few featured a more hardcore-influenced sound reminiscent of the group's earlier material. In retrospect, vocalist Ben Weasel has voiced dissatisfaction with the album, mainly the songs that were chosen for it.[3] However, he considers the band's performance and the album's production better than My Brain Hurts.[2]

The album was remastered and reissued by Asian Man Records in 2005 shortly after the band had removed its catalog from Lookout due to unpaid royalties and a vinyl version was released by Recess Records in 2009.

Background

[edit]

Shortly after the recording of My Brain Hurts, bassist Dave Naked was fired from the band at the insistence of guitarist Dan Vapid[3] and was initially replaced by Scott "Gub" Conway, who toured with the band in support of the album. Conway himself was replaced after the tour by Vindictives bassist Johnny Personality, who vocalist Ben Weasel considered an “outstanding bass player".[4] Weasel had briefly played with The Vindictives in 1990 on their first EP and Personality auditioned for Weasel and John Jughead's band the Gore Gore Girls during Screeching Weasel's brief break-up the same year.[4] In February 1992, the band went to engineer Steve Albini's house in Chicago to record demos for their next album, with Albini serving as engineer and Naked Raygun drummer Eric Spicer producing.[4] Two of the songs from the session, "Crying in My Beer" and "Jeannie's Got a Problem with Her Uterus", were re-recorded for Wiggle, while "Going Home" was released on a split EP with the Pink Lincolns (and later released on the CD version of the album) and "Celena" was featured on the compilation album It's a Punk Thing, You Wouldn't Understand.[4]

Recording

[edit]

In June 1992, the band went to Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, Indiana, to record Wiggle with studio owner Mass Giorgini producing. Giorgini would go on to produce several of the band's later albums and also served as their bassist from 1996 to 2001. The band recorded several songs during the sessions, including the non-album single "Radio Blast" and its b-side "The Girl Next Door",[4] a re-working of the song "Cindy's on Methadone" titled "Shirley's on Methadone" for a film called Shirley Pimple (which was never released as the director ended up in prison)[3] and a cover of the song "Achtung" by the band The Authorities for a tribute album (which was also never released).[4] Another song from the session, "Amy Saw Me Looking at Her Boobs", originated as a composition by Joe King (Joe Queer) of The Queers from 1990 that Weasel finished.[3] The song was later re-worked by The Queers as "Fuck the World" on their album Love Songs for the Retarded, which Screeching Weasel also recorded a version of. Weasel later called the sessions for the album an "enormous pain in the ass" due to the long recording process and that he "wasn't singing like [him]self",[3] saying his vocals on the album were "horrible."[2] He also stated that he was having relationship problems with his girlfriend at the time of the recording, which resulted in "fucking up [his] head" and having "no idea what should go on the album and what shouldn't."[3]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Ben Weasel, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Hanging Around" (written by Screeching Weasel)3:31
2."I'm Not in Love"2:00
3."One Step Beyond"3:04
4."I Was a High School Psychopath" (written by Dan Vapid)2:07
5."Crying in My Beer"3:51
6."Slomotion" (written by Johnny Personality and Weasel)1:20
7."Like a Parasite" (written by Weasel and Joe King)3:20
Side two
No.TitleLength
8."Joanie Loves Johnny"1:58
9."Second Floor East"2:58
10."Automatic Rejector" (written by Screeching Weasel)1:49
11."Jeannie's Got a Problem with Her Uterus"2:04
12."Sad Little Girl" (written by Weasel, Vapid and Personality)2:57
13."Ain't Got No Sense" (written by Frank Kerr, Gord Lewis, Steve Mahon and Nick Stipanitz; originally performed by Teenage Head)3:46
14."It's All in My Head"3:11
Lookout CD bonus tracks
No.TitleOriginal appearanceLength
15."Teenage Slumber Party"Achtung Chicago compilation (1989)2:25
16."Danny Is a Wimp" (written by King)Previously unreleased0:59
17."Going Home" (lyrics by Aaron Cometbus)Screeching Weasel / Pink Lincolns split EP (1993)2:41
Asian Man bonus track
No.TitleOriginal appearanceLength
18."Fuck the World" (written by Weasel and King)Previously unreleased2:10

Personnel

[edit]

Additional performers

  • Doug Ward – rhythm guitar on "Teenage Slumber Party"
  • Brian Vermin – drums on "Teenage Slumber Party"

Production

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ a b c d Screeching Weasel - How to Make Enemies and Irritate People liner notes. Retrieved 2016-07-03
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Screeching Weasel - Thank You Very Little liner notes. Retrieved 2016-07-02
  4. ^ a b c d e f Screeching Weasel - Kill the Musicians liner notes. Retrieved 2016-07-02
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