Slippery When Ill

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Slippery When Ill
Slippery When Ill cover
Studio album by The Vandals
Released April 1989
Genre Punk rock
Label Restless, Sticky Fingers
The Vandals chronology
When in Rome Do as the Vandals
(1984)		 Slippery When Ill
(1989)		 Fear of a Punk Planet
(1990)

Slippery When Ill is the second album by the Huntington Beach punk rock band The Vandals, released jointly in 1989 by Restless Records and Sticky Fingers Records. It was their first album to include Dave Quackenbush on vocals, who would remain the band's singer for the rest of their career. The album was something of a departure from the punk rock formula of their previous releases, fusing a country and western style with their humorous brand of punk. The result was a sound the band called "cow punk" which somewhat mocked the resurgence in popularity of country music in their native Huntington Beach. Two exceptions were the songs "Shi'ite Punk" and "(Illa Zilla) Lady Killa," which relied heavily on scratch boxes. The latter song was a re-recording of the song "Ladykiller" from the band's previous album When in Rome Do as the Vandals with slightly altered lyrics.

Robbie Allen is credited in the album's liner notes as having performed all of the bass tracks on the album, but by the time of its release original member Joe Escalante had moved from drums into the bass position. Escalante had played drums on the album, but when he switched to bass Doug Mackinnon joined the band as their new drummer. The photo in the album's liner notes indicates Escalante as the band's bass player and MacKinnon as their drummer.

Most of the album's songs were re-issued in 1999 by Kung Fu Records on the album The Vandals Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes. The song "Shi'ite Punk" was re-issued in 2000 on the anniversary re-release of their 1990 album Fear of a Punk Planet, also on Kung Fu Records.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Clowns Are Experts (At Making Us Laugh)" (Escalante/T. Murphey)
  2. "Susanville" (Escalante/Ackermann)
  3. "Desert Woman" (Escalante/Ackermann)
  4. "In America" (Charlie Daniels/F. Edwards/J. Marshall/C. Hayward/T. Crain/T. Digregorio; originally performed by the Charlie Daniels Band)
  5. "Elvis Decanter" (Escalante/Allen)
  6. "Goop All Over the Phone (Pleasant All Over the Bill)" (Escalante/Ackermann)
  7. "Shi'ite Punk" (Quackenbush/Ackermann)
  8. "Gator Hide" (Escalante/Ackermann)
  9. "Long Hair Queer" (Escalante/Quackenbush)
  10. "(Illa Zilla) Lady Killa" (Escalante/Ackermann)

[edit] Performers

[edit] Album information

  • Record label: Restless Records, Sticky Fingers Records
  • Recorded at The Music Grinder in Hollywood, California 1987-1988
  • Produced by Thom Wilson
  • Tracks 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10 written by Joe Escalante and Jan Nils Ackermann. Track 1 written by Joe Escalante and T. Murhpey. Track 5 written by Joe Escalante and Robbie Allen. Track 7 written by Dave Quackenbush and Jan Nils Ackermann. Track 9 written by Joe Escalante and Dave Quackenbush. Track 4 written by the Charlie Daniels Band.
  • Front cover photo by Alan Newberg
  • Insert photo by Jose Pombo
  • Background photography and layout by John Scarpatti
  • Additional design and assembly by Rudy Tuesday

[edit] Song information

All information listed here is derived from song lyrics, album liner notes, and band member interviews and commentary (particularly those in the video Sweatin' to the Oldies: The Vandals Live).

  • "Clowns Are Experts (At Making Us Laugh)" (Joe Escalante & T. Murphey)

A fairly straightforward humorous song about clowns.

  • "Susanville" (Joe Escalante)

Tells the story of a trucker who has been on the road so long that he doesn't remember what he's delivering, to where, or even what his love interest's name is.

  • "Desert Woman" (Joe Escalante)

The song compares the narrator's girlfriend to a natural landscape, in this case one a bit harsher than most.

This is a cover of a patriotic song by the Charlie Daniels Band.

  • "Elvis Decanter" (Joe Escalante & Robbie Allen)

In this song, a man uses an alcohol container shaped like Elvis that his girlfriend gave him as a metaphor for the end of their relationship. The emptier the bottle gets, the further apart he and his girlfriend grow.

  • "Goop All Over the Phone (Pleasant All Over the Bill)" (Joe Escalante)

In this song, of one of the band members has a phone sex relationship with a girl back home while the band is on the road.

  • "Shi'ite Punk" (Dave Quackenbush & Jan Nils Ackermann)

This song tells of an extremist punk who uses terrorism to achieve moral, political and musical goals.

  • "Gator Hide" (Joe Escalante)

Tells the story of a tough Florida sheriff who is particularly hard on poachers.

  • "Long Hair Queer" (Joe Escalante & Dave Quackenbush)

The song tells of a metrosexual-type friend who steals the narrator's girlfriend, and offers the advice that one can get rid of such a girlfriend by taking her to a Vandals show, where much cooler girls can be found.

  • "(Illa Zilla) Lady Killa" (Joe Escalante)

This is a new version of a song that originally appeared on the band's first album When in Rome Do as the Vandals. It parodies funk and hip hop music to some degrees, using a scratch box and rap-style vocals. In it several characters go downtown for various reasons.

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