The Raincoats (album)
The Raincoats is the debut studio album by English rock band the Raincoats. It was released on 21 November 1979 as one of the first records issued by the London-based independent label Rough Trade. The album is perhaps best known for its off-kilter cover of "Lola" by the Kinks. The album's sixth track, "The Void", was covered by Hole in 1994. In May 2010, the band performed the album in its entirety in London. In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked "The Raincoats" at number 398 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All  Time. Background. In 1979, three of the four members were living in squats – Vicky Aspinall in Brixton, Gina Birch in Monmouth Road, Bayswater, where the band frequently rehearsed. The squatting culture informed the lifestyle and music of the band with an onus on improvisation and DIY. The band conveyed an egalitarian ethos in their early live performances: each member was positioned to have equal visual prominence on stage, and the band dressed in everyday punk fashion no different from the ordinary "street clothes" of the audience members. Music and lyrics. Simon Reynolds and Joy Press wrote that the Raincoats' debut  bends and buckles rock form but doesn't break it, describing the music as "ragged, homespun folk-punk, with its elastic rhythms, reedy vocals and rickety structures." "Life on the Line" had the original lyrics penned by the original guitarist, Ross Crighton, about a suicide at Ladbroke Grove underground station. Release. "The Raincoats" was re-released by Rough Trade in 1993 on CD, with liner notes by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The album was again re-released on 9 November 2009 on vinyl on We ThRee (the band's own label) in the UK and on the Kill Rock Stars  label in the U.S. This edition included a free mp3 download and an extra track, "Fairytale in the Supermarket", as well as a special edition bonus CD, including live footage from 1978 and 1979 and a video of "Fairytale in the Supermarket". Critical reception. AllMusic praised the album, writing, "This music, even at its most dissonant, is stunning and captivating". In 1996, the critic Neil Strauss named it among the 100 most influential albums in "alternative" music in a "Rolling Stone" book on the subject. In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked the album at number 398 in their list of the  500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In his posthumously published "Journals", Cobain's list of his top 50 favorite records features "The Raincoats" at number 21. Track listing. All songs written by the Raincoats, except where noted. "Fairytale in the Supermarket" – 3:01, the Raincoats' first single, has been included as the opening track on all reissues of the album since 1993. Personnel. The Raincoats: With: Technical credits: