The dB’s – Stands for deciBels (2024 Remaster) (1981/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 37:18 minutes | 429 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Jangle Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Propeller Sound Recordings
The dB’s are an American alternative rock and power pop group, who formed in New York City in 1978 and first came to prominence in the early 1980s. Their debut album Stands for Decibels is acclaimed as one of the great “lost” power pop albums of the 1980s.
Stands for Decibels is the debut studio album by American power pop band the dB’s, released January 15, 1981 by Albion Records. The album was commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed.
At the time of its release, the dB’s consisted of singer/guitarists Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder, and drummer Will Rigby. The songwriting was evenly divided between Stamey and Holsapple, although Stamey became known for writing the stranger, more avant-garde numbers (“She’s Not Worried”, “Espionage”), while Holsapple wrote the more accessible, poppier songs (“Black and White”, “Bad Reputation”). Both Stamey and Holsapple played keyboards occasionally as well. Holder and Rigby did not receive any songwriting credits (other than a group credit for “Dynamite”).AllMusic Review by Chris Woodstra
On their debut, the dB’s combined a reverence for British pop and arty, post-punk leanings that alternate between minimalism and a love of quirky embellishment, odd sounds, and unexpected twists; Stands for Decibels is clearly a collegiate pop experiment, but rarely is experimentation so enjoyable and irresistibly catchy. Singing and songwriting duties are shared equally by Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple – Stamey, more quirky and psychedelic-leaning with a winsome, pure-pop whine, is nicely balanced by Holsapple’s more earthy drawl and straightforward approach. The album stands not only as a landmark power-pop album, but also as a prototype for much of the Southern jangle that would follow. [Stands for Decibels remained criminally unavailable in the U.S. for years. When IRS reissued it on CD in 1989, Holsapple’s “Judy” was added as a bonus track.]
Tracklist:
1-01. The dB’s – Black and White (2024 Remaster) (03:11)
1-02. The dB’s – Dynamite (2024 Remaster) (02:36)
1-03. The dB’s – She’s Not Worried (2024 Remaster) (03:07)
1-04. The dB’s – The Fight (2024 Remaster) (02:56)
1-05. The dB’s – Espionage (2024 Remaster) (02:42)
1-06. The dB’s – Tearjerkin’ (2024 Remaster) (03:57)
1-07. The dB’s – Cycles per Second (2024 Remaster) (03:06)
1-08. The dB’s – Bad Reputation (2024 Remaster) (03:11)
1-09. The dB’s – Big Brown Eyes (2024 Remaster) (02:00)
1-10. The dB’s – I’m in Love (2024 Remaster) (03:32)
1-11. The dB’s – Moving in Your Sleep (2024 Remaster) (04:03)
1-12. The dB’s – Judy (2024 Remaster) (02:52)
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