American Wrestlers (album)

American Wrestlers is the debut studio album by indie rock act American Wrestlers, initially self-released on BandCamp in 2014, and re-released on April 7, 2015 on Fat Possum Records. The album was recorded entirely by Gary McLure on an eight-track Tascam recorder.[1]

American Wrestlers
Studio album by
American Wrestlers
Released2014 (self-release)
April 7, 2015 (re-release)
Recorded2014, St. Louis, Missouri
GenreIndie rock
LabelSelf-released (2014)
Fat Possum Records (re-release)
ProducerGary McLure
American Wrestlers chronology
American Wrestlers
(2014)		 Goodbye Terrible Youth
(2016)
Singles from American Wrestlers
  1. "I Can Do No Wrong / The Rest of You"
    Released: February 10, 2015

Background and recording

In 2014, following the break-up of Gary McLure's band, Working for a Nuclear Free City, and the release of his debut solo album, Wreaths (2013), McLure moved to St. Louis, Missouri to marry his then-girlfriend, Bridget Imperial. McClure subsequently purchased an eight-track Tascam recorder and a bass guitar at a local pawn shop and recorded American Wrestlers at his new home. Regarding the album's lo-fi recording process, McClure noted, "The last time I recorded on like a 4-track or an 8-track was when I was like thirteen/fourteen in my bedroom, and this is the first thing I've recorded on 8-tracks since then."[1]

Writing and composition

The track, "Kelly", is partly written about Kelly Thomas, an American homeless man that was beaten to death by the police, in 2011. Gary McClure noted, "It concerns some other things too: parts of America. Parts of people. Artless strips of neon over a trough that spreads further than any animal could ever walk."[2]

Regarding the album's opening and closing tracks, "There's No One Crying Over Me Either" and "Left", McClure stated: "They’re both songs about human failures to connect in an open, real and faithfully exposed way because of being unable to let go of the feeling of being special, which is something produced by the ego."[3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]

American Wrestlers has received mostly favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74 based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

In a very positive review for the album, Allmusic's Mark Deming wrote: "The debut album from American Wrestlers confirms that the lo-fi aesthetic is still going strong in the 21st century [...] The result is one of the best crummy-sounding pop albums of recent memory."[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gary McLure.

No.TitleLength
1."There's No One Crying Over Me Either"4:52
2."Holy"5:50
3."Wild Yonder"5:24
4."I Can Do No Wrong"3:48
5."The Rest of You"4:33
6."Kelly"4:47
7."Cheapshot"7:18
8."Left"6:14
Digital Bonus Track
No.TitleLength
9."This Ain't"5:51
gollark: Or yesterday, I forget.
gollark: No, they were here 2 days ago.
gollark: On the plus side, with how student loans work it's not precisely equivalent to actually spending it.
gollark: * several tens of thousands of £ possibly, although at least we're not America.
gollark: > mhmmm... but social aspect with other similar interest beingsI mean, sure, but you can get that without spending several thousand £ surely?

References
  1. White, Caitlin. "Band To Watch: American Wrestlers + "There's No One Crying Over Me Either" (Stereogum Premiere)". stereogum.com. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  2. McDermott, Patrick D. "American Wrestlers Premiere "Kelly"". thefader.com. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  3. Yung, Ben. "The Many Stages of American Wrestlers' Gary McClure". therevue.ca. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  4. "Critic Reviews for American Wrestlers - Metacritic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  5. Demic, Mark. "American Wrestlers - American Wrestlers". Allmusic. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
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