Don't Slander Me

Don't Slander Me is a solo album by 13th Floor Elevators singer Roky Erickson recorded in 1982 and released in 1986. It features former Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady as part of Erickson's backing band.

Don't Slander Me
Studio album by
Roky Erickson
Released1986
Recorded1982
GenrePsychedelic rock, garage rock, punk rock, outsider music
Length46:55
ProducerDuane Aslaksen
Roky Erickson chronology
The Evil One
(1981)		 Don't Slander Me
(1986)		 Gremlins Have Pictures
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Austin Chronicle[2]
Robert ChristgauB+[3]
Pitchfork7.9/10[4]

The recording of the album took two months—from 14 May till 16 July 1982. The song "Burn the Flames," recorded on the very last day, was featured on the soundtrack for the 1985 horror movie The Return of the Living Dead.

Reception

Austin Chronicle writer Scott Schinder called Erickson's 1980s albums, released after his half-decade involuntary stay in a Texas psychiatric hospital, "the clearest glimpse into his raging musical soul." He described Don't Slander Me as more ragged and less focused (then Erickson's previous album, 1981's The Evil One) but a grabber nonetheless, anchored by such classics as 'Bermuda' and the title track, and revealing a romantic edge in the Buddy Holly pastiches 'Starry Eyes' and 'Nothin' in Return.'"[2] Pitchfork reviewer Jason Heller said that Don’t Slander Me's "cleanliness and control ... makes for a more palatable but less vital Erickson" than on the 1981 disc The Evil One, but that its mix of "souped-up garage rock" and "ringing, jangly " power-pop were still powerful, calling the song "Burn the Flames" "good, clean, Halloweenish fun."[4] Billboard writer Morgan Enos called Don't Slander Me Erickson's "attempt to embrace the punk era," and praised the love song "Starry Eyes" as "a heartfelt jangler worthy of the Byrds. It proved Erickson’s music stretched far beyond horror-show tomfoolery: like his hero Buddy Holly, he was a consummate melodic master, and he could write ballads with the best of them."[5] Mark Deming of AllMusic called the album "one of Erickson's strongest rock albums, with his voice sharp as a switchblade. ... While Erickson was at the height of his legendary eccentricity when Don't Slander Me was recorded, this album sounds passionate, focused, and coherent on all tracks."[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Roky Erickson.

No.TitleLength
1."Don't Slander Me"3:25
2."Haunt"2:50
3."Crazy Crazy Mama"2:04
4."Nothing In Return"2:50
5."Burn the Flames"6:09
6."Bermuda"3:12
7."You Drive Me Crazy"2:30
8."Can't Be Brought Down"5:02
9."Starry Eyes"3:07
10."The Damn Thing"4:57
11."Hasn't Anyone Told You"2:39
12."Realize You're Mine"4:35
13."Haunt"3:35
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gollark: Any drive capable of bringing you up to ridiculous fractions of lightspeed will have a horribly dangerous exhaust, the power sources necessary could also run tons of weapons, and you can use said drive things to, I don't know, accelerate asteroids to high velocities and crash them into planets.
gollark: Ah, but their ships themselves would have to be weapons to travel interstellarly.
gollark: Technologically speaking.
gollark: What? Basically everything can be reapplied as weaponry somehow.

References
  1. Deming, Mark. "Don't Slander Me - Roky Erickson & The Aliens". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. Schinder, Scott (27 September 2013). "Reissues: Roky Erickson - The Evil One, Don't Slander Me, and Gremlins Have Pictures". Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  3. "Robert Christgau: CG: Artist 1174". www.robertchristgau.com.
  4. Heller, Jason (4 September 2013). "Roky Erickson - The Evil One". Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  5. Enos, Morgan (1 June 2019). "R.I.P. Roky Erickson: 10 Essential Tracks from the Psychedelic Rock Pioneer". Billboard. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
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