Disinterest (album)

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Disinterest
Studio album by
The Servants
ReleasedJuly 1990 (1990-07)
Recorded17-18 April 1990
StudioGolddust, Bromley
GenreIndie rock, art rock
Length42:40
LanguageEnglish
LabelPaperhouse Records
ProducerMark Dawson
The Servants chronology
''Disinterest''
(1990) 		Small Time
(2012)
Singles from Disinterest
  1. "Look Like A Girl"
    Released: August 1990

Disinterest is the first album by English indie band The Servants. The record was released in August 1990 on Paperhouse Records.

Recording[edit]

Disinterest was recorded by Mark Dawson.

On the context of the recording, David Westlake says: “The album came out of a set of unspeakable frustrations and miscellaneous perversity.”[1] There were label issues: “We ended up with the record company for whom we did the album not directly through choice.”[2]

The album was recorded cheaply. Luke Haines later wrote: “The initial plan is to record with Steve Albini, but this never happens. Then Kramer’s name is mentioned as a possible producer. Nope. Eventually the album is recorded and mixed in office hours over five days in a demo studio in Bromley.”[3]

Release history[edit]

Paperhouse Records issued Disinterest in LP and CD formats in July 1990.

Paperhouse took the song “Look Like a Girl” from the album for release as a 7” single in August 1990 (The Servants’ fourth single). Two live recordings appear on the B-side: “Bad Habits Die Hard” (otherwise unrecorded), and “It’s My Turn” (The Servants’ previous single[4]); both live tracks were recorded on 4 May 1989 at AJZ Gaskessel in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.[5] The words “in case of Fire break Glass” are etched into the single’s run-out groove: a Westlake comment on record-label Paperhouse resulting from an ill-omened partnership, between Glass Records and Fire Records.[2]

Disinterest has long been unavailable. Interviewed in 2014, David Westlake said: “Unfortunately, the album was deleted not long after release. It hasn’t been available for more than twenty years and I don’t see it being reissued.”[1] Likewise, Luke Haines says Disinterest is “stuck in an irretrievable record company quagmire, where it looks set to remain.”[3]

Reception[edit]

Mojo magazine included Disinterest in its December 2011 list of the greatest British indie records of all time; Clive Prior described the album as “Arty, experimental and notable for Westlake’s fabulously mordant lyrics.”[6] Tim Peacock at Record Collector magazine observed in 2013 that: “while it’s recently been dusted down for critical reappraisal, [Disinterest] remains out of print.”[7] Matthew Fiander at PopMatters called Disinterest “a great record.... Angular and bittersweet.”[8]

Luke Haines describes Disinterest as “art rock, ten years too late and fifteen years too early”.[9][10]

Track listing[edit]

Side one[edit]

  1. Move Out (3:40)
  2. The Power of Woman (3:25)
  3. Restless (3:47)
  4. Third Wheel (3:06)
  5. Thin-Skinned (2:42)
  6. Self-Destruction (2:45)

Side two[edit]

  1. Hush Now (5:40)
  2. They Should Make a Statue (2:58)
  3. Hey, Mrs John (2:55)
  4. Look Like a Girl (4:07)
  5. Big Future (2:51)
  6. Afterglow (4:44)

Personnel[edit]

  • David Westlake – vocals and guitar
  • Luke Haines – vocals, guitar and piano
  • Alice Readman – bass
  • Andy Bennett – drums

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Strutt, Anthony (6 June 2014). "David Westlake interview". pennyblackmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Carry, Mark (19 May 2014). "Interview with David Westlake". Fractured Air. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ a b Haines, Luke (2012). Small Time (booklet). The Servants. London: Cherry Red Records. p. 4. CDB RED 535.
  4. ^ "The Servants - It's My Turn". discogs.com. 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. ^ "The Servants - Look Like A Girl". discogs.com. 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  6. ^ Prior, Clive (December 2011). "100 Greatest British Indie Records of All Time". Mojo – Indie Special. London: Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  7. ^ Peacock, Tim (January 2013). "The Servants: Small Time/Hey Hey We're The Manqués". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. p. 100. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  8. ^ Fiander, Matthew (14 January 2014). "The Servants: Hey Hey We're the Manqués". PopMatters. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  9. ^ Haines, Luke (2006). Reserved (booklet). The Servants. London: Cherry Red Records. p. 11. CDM RED 297.
  10. ^ Haines, Luke (2009). Bad Vibes. London: William Heinemann. p. 10. ISBN 9780434018468.
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