Monoculture (album)
Monoculture is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Sainthood Reps. It was produced by Mike Sapone and released on August 9, 2011, by Tooth & Nail Records. Background. In 2010, following the release of a split EP with O'Brother, Sainthood Reps received an e-mail from Tooth & Nail Records expressing interest in signing them, convincing them to put on hold plans for a double EP (four songs from which ended up on the album). After receiving more songs from the band, however, the label expressed concern about signing what was then a mostly instrumental band with  few vocals. An agreement was made to include both instrumental and vocal songs on the album, but during the seven months ultimately taken to finalize the contract, the band rented out a practice space to rehearse and write songs in preparation for the eventual recording process. It was during this process, according to guitarist Derrick Sherman, that the group "found [its] sound", ultimately abandoning the instrumental songs so as to have "a more cohesive record". Reception. The album received largely positive reviews. Jason Heller of "The A.V. Club" included it in his monthly "Loud" column.