Guppy (album)

Guppy is the debut album of Brooklyn power pop group Charly Bliss, consisting of Eva Hendricks (vocals, guitar), Spencer Fox (vocals, guitar), Sam Hendricks (drums), and Dan Shure (vocals, bass). The group wrote it over the course of four years and recorded two versions of it: one tracked in 2015, which they rejected because it wasn't "fun," and a more pop-infused version recorded in early 2016 that was released by Barsuk Records in April 2017. The album contains a harsh 1990s-esque alternative rock sound with lyrics that deal with emotional vulnerability.

Guppy
Studio album by
Charly Bliss
ReleasedApril 21, 2017
RecordedEarly 2016
StudioAtomic Sound, New York City
Fancy Time Studio, Philadelphia
Genre
Length29:26
LabelBarsuk
ProducerKyle "Slick" Johnson
Charly Bliss chronology
Soft Serve
(2014)		 Guppy
(2017)		 Young Enough
(2019)
Singles from Guppy
  1. "Ruby"
    Released: May 16, 2016[7]
  2. "Glitter"
    Released: February 7, 2017[8]
  3. "Percolator"
    Released: March 2, 2017[9]
  4. "Black Hole"
    Released: April 5, 2017[10]

Guppy was promoted with six campy, Andrew Costa-directed music videos and a 16-page limited edition comic book based on the album. Critics gave it glowing reviews upon its release, praising its lyrics and unique musical style. The album was in the top ten of several year-end lists by publications such as Newsweek, ABC News, PopMatters, Stereogum, The Ringer, and Billboard, and landed at number 42 on The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll.

Production and composition

All of the songs for Guppy were written over the course of four years.[11] Charly Bliss recorded the first version of the album in early 2015,[12] a month after Shure joined the group,[13] and it was produced and engineered by Justin Pizzoferrato.[14] However, the band disliked it as not being "fun" and it was not released.[15] Sam Hendricks reasoned, "It never really seemed like we quite fit in with a sub-scene within the larger New York scene. I think we were kind of horrified to feel like we didn't fit in."[16]

Charly Bliss then did lots of touring, which gave them a better idea on how to record the album. Shure explained, "When we first recorded it, we were like, ‘We want to make a good indie record.’ But once we started seeing the response we were getting at shows, we were like ‘No. We want our first album to be as strong as possible.’"[15] The band was going for an indie rock style when recording the LP's first version, but later realized they had to follow the tendencies of pop music to make an enjoyable album.[16] Thus, they followed that plan when recording the version of Guppy that was officially released.[16]

Guppy was recorded in early 2016 and produced by Kyle "Slick" Johnson, who worked on the band's debut extended play Soft Serve (2014), instead of Pizzoferrato.[14] In an interview published on August 2, 2016, the band announced they were around 90% finished with the LP.[17] Fox stated that in making the record, instead of just rushing out the songs in a fashion of most indie rock music, he arranged and produced the tracks that would naturally appeal to most listeners or "fulfill our idea of what a good song should be."[15] As Eva Hendricks described the intentions of the LP, "We wanted this recording to sound as fun as our live show, but also different from our live show. We’ve learned a lot from looking to bands that are more poppy. Like, Is this as catchy or concise as it can be? Is this a banger?"[13]

Featuring a 1990s alternative rock sound,[2][4] Guppy musically consists of "day-glo pop-punk guitars" and "endless-rainbow [pop] hooks," as with the works of Circle Jerks, Germs, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, blink-182, and Weezer Charly Bliss was inspired by, wrote J. Edward Keyes of Bandcamp Daily.[15] Eva's childlike singing style on the album was inspired by Kay Hanley: "I love Kay Hanley, and it is my dream of all dreams to meet her."[18] The bright tone of her vocals juxtaposes the harsh-sounding instrumentals, which led a Hyperallergic writer to categorize the album as "Grimes singing for Roomrunner."[19]

Lyrics

Eva Hendricks wrote the lyrics[13] in her bedroom, "the only place where I’m comfortable enough to try new ideas that I’d normally feel self-conscious about."[20] Guppy deals with emotional vulnerability.[13] Despite the LP's joyous tone, Hendricks explained that the lyrics involve "taking all those things people have said about me and spitting them back out and saying, ‘Fuck you.’"[15] In "trying to make fun of this teeny-bopper way I have of talking,"[13] she wrote the songs as "extensions" of herself, "me, with the saturation turned up all the way."[15] She elaborated, "I’m either flipping out happy, off the walls, and stoked, or miserable, freaking out, super neurotic, and anxious. The record sounds like that, like me careening between those extremes in my personality."[13] The LP explores the "injustices of girlhood through everything from a sour date ("Am I the best, or just the first to say yes?") to the death of a lover's dog ("does he love me most now that his dog is toast?")," wrote Tatiana Cirisano.[4] "Ruby" is a tribute to Eva Hendricks' therapist.[11] It was inspired by an event one week before writing the song, when she discussed with her therapist about how little time her brother Sam Hendricks gave her to write lyrics.[11]

Cover art

The cover art of Guppy is a photograph of five goldfish the band purchased at a pet store,[21] taken by Jacqueline Harriet and Mark T. Davis.[22] It was taken two days before cover art for the album was due to be submitted to Barsuk Records.[21] The first planned cover artwork was not used due to it being copyrighted by the Los Angeles Times.[21]

Music videos

Guppy was promoted with several music videos that "veer towards that kind of campy, fun feeling," explained Eva.[23] All of them were directed by Andrew Costa,[24] Eva Hendricks co-directing the videos for "DQ"[23] and "Scare U."[24] The music video for "Ruby" was released on May 16, 2016 via The A.V. Club.[7] The video was influenced by public-access television shows such as Kelly & Company show.[7] As Eva summarized, the video takes place in a "bizarre, pastel, Midwestern world" with zombies.[7] Friends of members from the band portrayed zombie extras in the video.[7] On March 2, 2017. The Fader premiered "Percolator"'s video, which depicts the group members as superheroes fighting "an undisclosed evil."[9] The music video for "Black Hole," which Nylon magazine's official site issued on April 5, 2017, is a spoof of the film Matilda (1996) and also features cousins of the band's members.[10]

Billboard magazine's official website premiered "Westermarck"'s video on June 13, 2017.[25] Described by the magazine as "like Camp Rock minus the Jonas Brothers," the video was filmed as a summer camp in western Massachusetts Eva used to go to as a child and features three of the camp's employees.[25] On August 29, 2017, Noisey premiered the video for "DQ."[23] Filmed in Westport, Connecticut homes owned by parents of the band, the video involves being in several teen movie-esque scenarios such as a pool party.[23] On October 13, 2017, the website of W premiered the official video for "Scare U."[26] Inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Prophecy Girl," the video stars Eva as a trainee at a restaurant who investigates why its capturing and transforming its customers into hamburgers.[26][24]

Comic book
Sadie Dupuis (front) contributed artwork for a companion piece comic book of Guppy.

On October 20, 2017,[27] Guppy: Issue One, a 16-page comic and companion piece for songs from Guppy, was released and sold for a limited edition of 500 copies.[28] It features art from Sadie Dupuis and Michael DeForge, with Noah Van Sciver creating the cover art.[28] Copies of the comic also came with a flexi-disc consisting of two previously-unreleased Charly Bliss songs, "Golden Age" and "Special."[28]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Album of the Year82/100[29]
AnyDecentMusic?7.9/10[30]
Metacritic87/100[31]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[32]
The A.V. ClubA[33]
Consequence of SoundB+[34]
Exclaim!8/10[35]
Flood8/10[36]
Knoxville News Sentinel4/5[37]
Pitchfork7.8/10[38]
PopMatters[39]
Punknews.org[40]
Spectrum Culture[41]

Nashville Scene labeled Guppy as "one of the best pop records of the year, rightfully drawing comparisons to Veruca Salt, The Rentals, Weezer and other acts whose pop songcraft has proven to age well as decades pass."[12] Cirisano described the album as "both devastatingly honest and surprisingly funny -- a tough combination to nail, but one which would make 1994 Rivers Cuomo proud here."[4] Pitchfork claimed the band achieved a "deceptively hard balance" with Guppy, reasoning that it "works on multiple levels: as tossed-off sarcasm, as a statement of pride, and, crucially, as an undeniable pop [album]."[38] AllMusic stated, "Guppy may be just the ticket for those looking for a reprieve from the ubiquitous gloss of electro-pop, and they can have it without sacrificing catchiness or sunny vibrations."[32]

The A.V. Club's Alex McLevy labeled Guppy a "nearly flawless exemplar of its kind" and "the sound of rock music doing the timeless job it only achieves from its best practitioners."[33] He praised the LP for being "wholly adrift and disposable by any metric of serious analysis,"[33] and an Exclaim! writer similarly called it a "clever exercise in repositioning of boring genre rules," though he disliked the lack of a specific genre resulted in "occasional cognitive inconsistency."[35] PopMatters critic Brian Duricy called it "a special release. It has powers: the power to transport you back to some of your most formative experiences, but also the power to let you know that you’re nowhere near done having them yet. That the best happened, and the best is yet to come."[39] He opined that the LP "tap[s] into such adrenaline-inducing melodies with meaningful lyrics to match," a combination very few albums have.[39] Spectrum Culture claims the album has "a sort of magic that neither one could achieve on their own."[41]

Multiple reviewers highlighted the aggressive and depth-filled nature of Eva's lyrics.[38][34][39][37] Duricy wrote, "Eva Hendricks has that rare quality of knowing what her voice is in both the written and spoken forms, and this marriage usually only is forged through decades of experience."[39] Knoxville News Sentinel stated, "She’s the ultimate passive-aggressive imp, sending manipulative side-eye disguised as vulnerability."[37] McLevy wrote that the band "speaks to the uncertain core of each of us, doling out the screams and hollers of inner upheaval the rest of us lack the artistry to express in such passionate and expressive ways."[33] A writer for Earbuddy stated the lyrics have a "killer sense of humor, which only makes Guppy's songs that more infectious."[42] Dylan Gallimore praised Eva's singing on the album: "[she] makes it clear that she possesses subterranean, super-human talent, and, especially on the latter half of the record, she showcases her range, depth and raw vocal prowess."[43] Punknews.org favorably reviewed the album, but also stated "a little more anger and roughing up" was need for the music to fully work.[40] Writing for Backstage Pass,[44] Jordan Gibbs offered, singer Eva "Hendricks backed by the controlled ferocity of the band presents a vulnerability so intense it that it doubles as a strength." [45]

Accolades

Semester-end lists
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
The Alternative The 50 Best Albums So Far in 2017
*
[46]
The A.V. Club The Best Albums of 2017 So Far
*
[47]
Consequence of Sound Top 25 Albums of 2017 (So Far)
22
[6]
Spin 50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far
39
[48]
Stereogum 50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far
3
[49]
"*" indicates an unordered list.

Year-end lists

In The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, an poll regarding the best albums of the year as voted by more than 400 American music critics, Guppy ranked number 42 with 178 points.[50]

Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
ABC News 50 Best Albums of 2017
6
[51]
The Alternative Top 50 Albums of 2017
4
[2]
The A.V. Club 20 Best Albums of 2017
16
[52]
Bandcamp Daily The Best Albums of 2017
5
[5]
Billboard Best Albums of 2017
38
[3]
25 Best Rock Albums of 2017
7
[4]
Newsweek The 17 Best Albums of 2017
2
[53]
Noisey The 100 Best Albums of 2017
46
[54]
PopMatters The 60 Best Albums of 2017
55
[55]
The Best Indie Rock of 2017
6
[56]
The Ringer Best Albums of 2017
9
[57]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2017
7
[58]
Uproxx 50 Best Albums of 2017
23
[59]
The Village Voice Pazz & Jop
42
[50]

Track listing

Track lengths derived from the iTunes Stores.[60]

No.TitleLength
1."Percolator"2:46
2."Westermarck"3:12
3."Glitter"3:14
4."Black Hole"3:02
5."Scare U"2:25
6."Ruby"2:11
7."DQ"3:19
8."Gatorade"2:19
9."Totalizer"2:33
10."Julia"4:25
Total length:29:26

Personnel

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label
Worldwide April 13, 2017 Streaming NPR Music[61]
April 21, 2017[60]
Barsuk[62]
gollark: The bee engines store server logs.
gollark: I'm trying to commune with our bee engines.
gollark: Oh, I don't know then.
gollark: The Consortium.
gollark: 𒐫, broadly speaking, yes.

References
  1. Payne, Chris (June 22, 2017). "#AlternativeFacts Podcast: Your New Favorite Band Charly Bliss Is Already In 'Full Writing Mode' for Second LP". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  2. "Top 50 Albums of 2017". The Alternative. December 18, 2017. p. 2. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  3. "Billboard's 50 Best Albums of 2017: Critics' Picks". Billboard. December 12, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  4. "The 25 Best Rock Albums of 2017: Critics' Picks". Billboard. December 20, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  5. "The Best Albums of 2017: #20 – 1". Bandcamp Daily. December 15, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  6. "Top 25 Albums of 2017 (So Far)". Consequence of Sound. June 12, 2017. p. 2. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  7. McLevy, Alex (May 16, 2016). "Charly Bliss captures fuzz-pop perfection in this video exclusive". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  8. Sherman, Maria (February 7, 2017). "Songs We Love: Charly Bliss, 'Glitter'". NPR Music. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  9. Mandel, Leah (March 2, 2017). "Charly Bliss Are Pop-Punk Superheroes In The Video For “Percolator”". The Fader. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  10. Gore, Sydney (April 5, 2017). "Charly Bliss’s New Video Takes Us Down A “Black Hole”". Nylon. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  11. Tipple, Ben. "In Conversation with Charly Bliss". Goldflake Paint. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  12. Seling, Megan (April 27, 2017). "How Guppy Reveals Two Sides of Charly Bliss’ Eva Hendricks". Nashville Scene. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
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  15. Keyes, J. Edward (April 17, 2017). "Charly Bliss: Fizzy Guitar-Pop That’s Big, Bright, and Full of Feelings". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  16. Ottenhof, Luke (April 20, 2017). "How Brooklyn Hipsters Charly Bliss Learned to Shake Off Expectations and Become a Pop Band". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
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