The Balcony (album)

The Balcony is the debut studio album by Welsh indie rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen. It was released on 15 September 2014 in the United Kingdom and 15 January 2015 in the United States. On 20 March 2015, The Balcony was awarded a Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry. The album cover depicts outlines of two headless people pleasuring each other's genitals. The illustration is by New York artist Tim Lahan who originally posted it to his Flickr account in 2009 and was subsequently contacted by the band.[8]

The Balcony
Studio album by Catfish and the Bottlemen
Released	15 September 2014 (2014-09-15)
Genre	Alternative rock indie rock
Length	37:38
Label	Island Communion
Producer	Jim Abbiss
Catfish and the Bottlemen chronology
Kathleen and the Other Three (2014) The Balcony (2014) The Ride (2016)
Singles from The Balcony
"Homesick" Released: 18 May 2013 "Rango" Released: 13 August 2013 "Kathleen" Released: 18 March 2014 "Fallout" Released: 7 July 2014 "Cocoon" Released: 23 September 2014 "Pacifier" Released: 1 December 2014 "Hourglass" Released: 19 August 2015

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	52/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Clash	6/10[3]
The Guardian	[4]
musicOMH	[5]
NME	4/10[6]
Q	[1]
XS Noize	7/10[7]

The Balcony has been nominated for the Welsh Music Prize 2014–15.[9] As the band's second album The Ride was releasing, it was reported that The Balcony had sold 250,000 copies.[10] In the United States, the album has sold 37,000 copies as of April 2016.[11]

Reception

Critical reception of the album was mixed, with review aggregator Metacritic giving it 52/100 based on 6 reviews.[1] Writing for AllMusic, Scott Kerr gave it three and a half stars out of five, saying that McCann's "weathered and assured vocals" gave an impression of a more experienced band and that Billy Bibby provided "grand Johnny Marr-inspired guitar hooks that are unapologetically catchy, gritty, and full of swagger".[2] Ben Homewood of NME was more critical, giving the album 4/10 for being "ham-fisted and about nine years too late" despite "unstoppable desire and conviction".[6] Tillie Elvrum of XS Noize rated the album 7/10, calling it "an incredibly polished debut album."[7]

Track listing

Words by Van McCann and music by Catfish and the Bottlemen

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Homesick"	2:30
2.	"Kathleen"	2:43
3.	"Cocoon"	3:59
4.	"Fallout"	3:32
5.	"Pacifier"	4:00
6.	"Hourglass"	2:20
7.	"Business"	3:43
8.	"26"	3:41
9.	"Rango"	3:00
10.	"Sidewinder"	3:29
11.	"Tyrants"	4:41
Total length:		37:38

Trivia

An edited version of their song "Cocoon" was featured in the EA Sports game, FIFA 15, as a part of the game's soundtrack. Ewan McGregor features in the music video for the single "Hourglass".

Personnel

Catfish and the Bottlemen

• Van McCann – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
• Billy Bibby – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Benji Blakeway – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Bob Hall – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Jim Abbiss – programming; additional piano (track 6)
• Ben Lovett – additional piano (track 4)

Additional personnel

• Ian Dowling – engineering, mixing

Charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12]	51
UK Albums (OCC)[13]	10
US Billboard 200[14]	121
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[15]	4
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[16]	8
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[17]	9
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[18]	13

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Platinum	300,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Critic Reviews for The Balcony". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
2. Kerr, Scott. "The Balcony – Catfish and the Bottlemen". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
3. Rivers, Joe (15 September 2014). "Catfish And The Bottlemen – The Balcony". Clash. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
4. Gibsone, Harriet (11 September 2014). "Catfish and the Bottlemen – The Balcony review, self-assured, if dated". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
5. Marsh, Graeme (11 September 2014). "Catfish And The Bottlemen – The Balcony". musicOMH. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
6. Homewood, Ben (23 September 2014). "Catfish & The Bottlemen – 'The Balcony'". NME. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
7. Elvrum, Tillie. "Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balcony". Retrieved 15 January 2015.
8. "CATFISH COAST TO COAST: A photo tour across America with CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN PT 5 - Catfish Coast to Coast is five cities, five photographers, five favorite shots, and five questions documenting each photographer's impressions of the event". Xsnoize.com. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
9. "Wales Music Prize shortlist for 2014–15 unveiled". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
10. Petridis, Alexis (26 May 2016). "Catfish and the Bottlemen: The Ride review – crushingly prosaic indie rock". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
11. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016.
12. Ryan, Gavin (31 January 2015). "ARIA Albums: Taylor Swift 1989 Spends 8th Week On Top". Noise11.com. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
13. "Catfish & the Bottlemen | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
14. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
15. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
16. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
17. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
18. "Catfish and the Bottlemen Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
19. "British album certifications – Catfish and the Bottlemen album – The Ride". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 March 2015. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Ride in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.