Shipwreck Treasure Party

Shipwreck Treasure Party is the sophomore album by The Nautical Stairs. It was released on May 21st, 1995, by Mud Man Records. The album received favorable reviews, and was ranked #5 on Dirty Music Magazine's "Top Seattle Records of 1995".

**Background/ Concept**

Recording for Shipwreck Treasure Party began immediately after the release of their debut album. Already, the band was moving past their punk-grunge roots and looking towards other influences. According to Jimmy: "We had been together for a year and were in that stage of getting bored with our sound, wanting to innovate, wanting to be special. That's something that takes most bands two or three albums to enter into. It says a lot about how we operated- we wanted to move faster, grow bigger than any other band around. It worked for a little bit".

The album's concept came when Jimmy took a trip to the UK and came across the Romantic painting *The Shipwreck* by Francis Danby. He was inspired by the strange colors and emotional pull of the painting, and also its nautical theme, which fit the bands name and image perfectly. Co-songwriters Jimmy and Michelle came up with a semi-concept album about a group of explorers discovering an ancient shipwreck and the lost civilization it came from. The original concept's grand, experimental scope was later pulled back by producer Dylan Timbrell, who didn't want to risk putting funds into something that novel. The resulting compromise album frustrated Jimmy but ultimately laid the groundwork for their later concept albums.

**Recording**

Recording for the album took place over the entire month of February 1995. At that point, it was the longest studio time in the bands history, whose previous album took a week to record. Many overdubs were used, and a four-piece string ensemble was hired for the tracks "Welcome To The Deep" and "Drowning Or Whatever". The album also showcased more of Michelle Wood's talent. She played a lyre solo on the title track, and the shakuhachi on "Crazy Exotic Other World", among many other instruments.

The recording process went way over the expected budget, and briefly threatened to drive Mud Man into bankruptcy. It was only an infusion of donations by fans, along with a generous gift by an anonymous donor, that allowed the record company to stay afloat.

**Release**

The album was mastered by Dylan Timbrell and had a limited release on May 10th. After fans bought every copy within a week, the album had a more extended release on May 21st. It ended up selling more than ten times as many copies as the Stairs' debut, achieving national fame and briefly assuring the Stairs' success long term. The hype, however, died down quickly, and there was an immediate backlash from their original underground fan base who accused them of becoming too experimental and high-minded. Mud Man Records was worried about the Stairs' sudden drop in popularity, and briefly considered dropping them. It was only when Johnny Mulligan of the wildly popular art-rock group The Oblique listed it as his favorite album of the year that the Stairs got a new infusion of fans and record sales. It was this infusion that was the foundation for their eventual cult following.

Two months after the albums released, The Nautical Stairs set about on their Shipwrecked Tour. It was the biggest tour they had done so far, playing to small but sold-out venues in 17 different cities. Michelle later remarked: "it was weird. By the end it seemed like the crowd was feeling our pulse, singing along to everything. Some of them got shipwreck tattoos. I was thinking: is this really our fanbase? Do we really mean this much to these people?"

After the tour ended in October 1995, the band went right back to the studio to begin the year-long process of recording *Stupendous Horrendous Pretentious*.

**Legacy**

Shipwreck Treasure Party remains one of the Stairs' most successful albums. On the 2010 Nautical Stairs Survey, 75% of Stairs fans listed it as their favorite. On its 20th anniversary in 2015, Dirty Music Magazine devoted an entire issue to it, including publishing a previously-unseen short story by Jimmy McCain detailing the album's original concept. After the Great Disappearing in 2008, original copies sold for up to $4,000. In 2006, when asked to reflect on the Stairs' legacy, Jimmy stated: "I think Shipwreck Treasure Party reflects more than anything what our band was trying to do. If I had to summarize the musical point of the Stairs in one record, it would be that one."