God Fodder is the debut studio album by English rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin, released on 1 April 1991 by Columbia Records. After creating their own imprint following the success of several prior independent singles, the band recorded the album from December 1990 to January 1991 in London. Musically, God Fodder takes large influence from grebo, shoegaze, noise pop, and dance music, characterized by noisy guitars, complex drum beats, and its usage of two bass players, with Matt Cheslin playing regular bass lines and Alex Griffin playing harmonic bass lines. Lyrically, the album features communal efforts written by all the band.
Five different singles were released from God Fodder across different regions. Upon its release, the album was a critical and commercial success, reaching number 4 in the UK Albums Chart; it also found an audience in the United States, where the album reached number 91 on the Billboard 200, largely due to the band's T-shirt campaign and the videos for “Kill Your Television” and "Grey Cell Green", which gained traction on MTV's 120 Minutes. The record's success is said to be a triumph against the dominance of grunge music at the time. The album was named among the year's best albums by several magazines. The band played the album in its entirety for the first time in O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in December 2009 and played it again in Birmingham in September 2010.
Background and recording
Ned's Atomic Dustbin formed in Stourbridge in 1987. Although the band had started out as a gothic rock band, the band "had developed a dense, assaultive sound" by the early 1990s "that was distinguished by their thundering two-bass attack." After releasing The Ingredients EP, the band's official first single, "Kill Your Television", which later featured on God Fodder, was a commercial success, reaching number 53 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Independent Singles Chart and becoming critically acclaimed; furthermore, it heralded the band's new grebo sound which they would fully explore on God Fodder. co-producing the record with Jessica Cocoran.
Style
Music
God Fodder combines grebo music, a "punk-influenced, electronica-informed, hyper, light-hearted rock" genre with which the band were associated, Trouser Press said the album combines catchy melodies, "pulsing adrenaline beats" and "a wool-covered wall of fuzzy pop noise on which able singer Jonn Penney pastes challenging personal lyrics."
The album features influences from shoegaze bands such as Ride, numerous Los Angeles bands and "a random selection of English bands" including New Order, Icicle Works and The Wedding Present; all such influences were described as being presented in "bits" or "pinches".
Lyrics
Like several bands of the era, the band's bassist Alex Griffin explained that the songs on God Fodder were "communal efforts", saying "It's a lot more gratifying than working with just a single songwriter. One person brings in a 10-second idea and we build on that. It's definitely a group thing," adding that "When people tell me what one of our songs means, I say, 'Yep, you're right.' I'm not gonna dash their dreams."
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God Fodder was released on 1 April 1991 by the band's own Sony Music imprint Furtive Records in the UK, whilst in the United States, the album was released by Columbia Records, another Sony label, on 2 July 1991. The band played concerts throughout the year worldwide in promotion of God Fodder, playing alongside bands such as, amongst others, Mega City Four, Senseless Things and Jesus Jones. The band also appeared twice on Top of the Pops in the UK. In as early as July 1991, the NME, noted that the band were, along with The KLF, Seal, The La's and Electronic, making their mark in the United States.
Several singles were released from the album; "Kill Your Television" was released in the UK in 1990 before the album was recorded and in 1992 in the United States. It reached number 53 in the UK Singles Chart and number 1 in the UK Independent Singles Chart. The second single, "Until You Find Out", was also released in 1990 and reached number 51 in the UK charts. It has been reported that over 60,000 copies were sold in the first week alone. In the United States, the album has sold over 400,000 copies.
Reception and legacy
The album received generally positive reviews. At the end of 1991, several magazines included the album on their lists of the top 50 albums of the year; NME ranked it 23rd, whilst Select ranked it 39th. "Kill Your Television" had already ranked at number 37 in NMEs list of the top 50 singles of 1990, whilst it also ranked at number 26 in the same year's edition of the Festive Fifty, a poll of the top 50 songs of the year assembled by John Peel listeners. The Morning Call referred to the record as a "fine" album. Less favourable to God Fodder was Pitchfork Medias Chris Ott, saying that "Ned Atomic Dustbin's shook their long-on-top dos to the prevailing beat–namely shoegaze. A pinch of Swervedriver, a touch of Ride, the cheesy Peavey distortion of a thousand bad L.A. bands and some timely looks?"
Live concerts
thumb|The band playing God Fodder at [[O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in 2009.]]
Having reformed in 2009, all five original members of the band played God Fodder from start to finish in London, on 19 December 2009 at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire.
After playing the album, the band played other tracks from their catalogue.
The band played the entirety of the album again at the Digbeth Institute in Birmingham on 25 September 2010 as part of the institute's reopening. Interviewed prior to the Birmingham concert, Penney stated that "back when we first toured God Fodder, we didn’t play in Birmingham and that’s something we’ll be very happy to address all these years later. We can’t wait to christen the new venue and set a new bar-takings record."
Track listing
All songs written by Ned's Atomic Dustbin.
- "Kill Your Television" – 2:59
- "Less Than Useful" – 4:05
- "Selfish" – 3:54
- "Grey Cell Green" – 3:47
- "Cut Up" – 3:07
- "Throwing Things" – 3:24
- "Capital Letters" – 2:55
- "Happy" – 3:59
- "Your Complex" – 2:38
- "Nothing Like" – 2:41
- "Until You Find Out" – 3:10
- "You" – 2:03
- "What Gives My Son?" 2:48
Personnel
Adapted from the liner notes.
- Dan Dan the Fast Drumming Man
- Alex Plays One Bass
- Mat the Other
- Rat: Does the Guitar
- and Jonn Sings.
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