Of Someday Shambles is the second studio album by Australian alternative rock band Jebediah. It was recorded between April and June 1999 and was produced by Mark Trombino. It was released on 3 October 1999 by record label Murmur.

It peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart and, by December of the following year, it received a Platinum certification from ARIA.

Recording

Of Someday Shambles was recorded from April to June 1999 by Jebediah with American producer Mark Trombino (Knapsack, Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182). The group's line-up was Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Kevin Mitchell on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Vanessa Thornton on bass guitar and Kevin's older brother Brett Mitchell on drums.

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Working with Trombino had Brett Mitchell "record with a metronomic click track" for his drum parts.

Release

"Animal" was the lead single from the album and was released on 9 August 1999. It reached number 16 on the ARIA Singles Charts, which was promoted by an Australian tour supported by New Zealand indie rock band Garageland.

Of Someday Shambles was released on 3 October 1999 by Murmur. Initial pressings of the album included a bonus CD-ROM that contained the band's first five music videos, some footage from the recording of the album, lyrics, photos and web links. The album peaked at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained in the top 50 for 25 weeks. By December 2000 Of Someday Shambles had received a platinum certificate from ARIA.

The second single released was "Feet Touch the Ground", which was released on 22 November 1999 and peaked at number 75. The next single, "Please Leave", was released on 13 March 2000 in two versions: a brown version and a blue version. It peaked at number&nbsp;53. It received airplay on community radio stations and national youth radio's Triple J. The song was used on the soundtrack for season one of the Australian TV drama series McLeod's Daughters.

Reception

Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described Of Someday Shambles as "brimming with youthful exuberance and feisty, melodic, guitar-based fuzzy punk-pop perfectly suited to the post-grunge alternative generation. It was a more adventurous, varied and assured album in some ways, without the band members getting too clever and too far removed from what they do best."

Ken Taylor of AllMusic rated the album at two-and-a-half stars out of five and felt it "makes noisy emo-pop that, for the most part, indulges the sweet tooth of younger kids still aiming to assert some type of aggression. The songwriting, though not the strongest suit for these four youngsters, comes across as sophomoric but isn't entirely bad, as some of the changes take unpredictable twists and turns. The biggest problem that Jebediah faces is that they occasionally fall prey to certain Green Dayisms. Structurally, they strike a chord and a drum, and the three beats in between are given to the guitarist to illustrate his rather tepid chops. The nasally vocals are also damagingly pedestrian and taste rather stale at this point."

| title0 = Big Beer Wall

| note0 = pregap track, only present on the Australian release

| length0 = 2:50

| title1 = Did You Really?

| length1 = 3:10

| title2 = Star Machine

| length2 = 4:43

| title3 = Congratulations

| length3 = 4:19

| title4 = Trapdoor

| length4 = 2:09

| title5 = Please Leave

| length5 = 3:36

| title6 = Love at Last

| length6 = 5:10

| title7 = Animal

| length7 = 4:28

| title8 = Happier Sad

| length8 = 6:51

| title9 = Slot Car Racing

| note9 = aka "Fast"

| length9 = 1:42

| title10 = Feet Touch the Ground

| length10 = 5:04

| title11 = In Orbit

| length11 = 4:31

| title12 = Skin

| length12 = 3:51

| title13 = Run of the Company

| length13 = 6:57

Personnel

; Jebediah

  • Chris Daymond – guitar
  • Brett Mitchell – drums
  • Kevin Mitchell – vocals
  • Vanessa Thornton – bass guitar

; Additional musicians

  • Ed Bates – pedal steel guitar on "Happier Sad"
  • Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra – orchestral instruments on "Run of the Company"
  • Cezary Skubiszewski – orchestral arrangements on "Run of the Company"

; Technical personnel

  • Mark Trombino – production, mixing, engineering
  • Andrew Christie – cover artwork
  • Ben Steele – cover artwork
  • Ross Cockle – recording assistance on "Run of the Company"
  • Dave Davis – engineering assistance
  • Matt Dufty – engineering assistance
  • Brian Gardner – mastering
  • Reg Sargeant – cover photography
  • Carla Steele – sleeve photography

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable"

!Chart (1999/2000)

!Peak<br>position

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable"

!align="left"|Year (1999)

!align="left"|Position

|-

| align="left"|Australian Albums (ARIA)

| align="center"|70

|}

References

  • Jebediah discography at the band's official website