Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs

Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs is the debut studio album by Australian indie pop band Ball Park Music, released in Australia and New Zealand on 9 September 2011 on Stop Start/EMI. The album debuted and peaked at number 36 on the ARIA Cahrts.

Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs
Studio album by
Ball Park Music
Released9 September 2011[1]
RecordedJanuary 2011–June 2011
StudioMassive Studios, Brisbane
GenreIndie pop
Length43:10
LabelStop Start/EMI Music
ProducerMatt Redlich
Ball Park Music chronology
Conquer the Town, Easy As Cake
(2010)		 Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs
(2011)		 Museum
(2012)
Singles from Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs
  1. "Sad Rude Future Dude"
    Released: 13 October 2010[2][3]
  2. "Rich People Are Stupid"
    Released: 9 June 2011 [4]
  3. "It's Nice to Be Alive"
    Released: 15 July 2011[5]
  4. "All I Want Is You"
    Released: October 2011[6]
  5. "Literally Baby"
    Released: November 2011[7]

The album was produced by Matt Redlich and spawned the singles "Sad Rude Future Dude", "Rich People Are Stupid", "It's Nice to Be Alive" , "All I Want Is You" and "Literally Baby". The album also features "iFly" from Conquer the Town, Easy As Cake.

At the J Awards of 2011, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[8]

The album was re-released in October 2020, where it re-entered the ARIA charts at number 26.[9]

Recording and production

Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs contains material that had been written by the band's frontman Sam Cromack from the mid 2000s through to the album's release in 2011. A number of demos were recorded for the record with the track list resulting in 11 tracks. A further song – "Big Big Mess" – from a previous session was released during this period as a b-side for the physical version of "It's Nice To Be Alive".

The album was recorded in Brisbane with producer/engineer Matt Redlich between January and June 2011 in his home studio called Massive Studios.

Critical response

The AU Review voted it at #2 for 2011. Jody Macgregor at Rave Magazine gave it four-and-a-half stars and Album of the Week. Triple J Magazine awarded it 8/10

Credits

All songs written by Sam Cromack and arranged by Ball Park Music.

Produced, engineered and mixed by Matt Redlich at Massive Studios.

Mastered by William Bowden at King Willy Sound.

Artwork by Polly Bass Boost.

Track listing

All music and lyrics written by Sam Cromack:

  1. "Literally Baby" – 2:47
  2. "It's Nice to Be Alive" – 3:29
  3. "Sad Rude Future Dude" – 2:17
  4. "All I Want Is You" – 3:29
  5. "Rich People Are Stupid" – 2:15
  6. "Alligator" – 4:36
  7. "Birds Down Basements" – 3:48
  8. "Shithaus" – 3:26
  9. "iFly" – 2:33
  10. "Glass Jar" – 2:46
  11. "Happy Healthy Citizen of the Developed World Blues" – 5:37

Charts
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 36
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 26

Release history
Region Date Format Edition(s) Label Catalogue
Australia 9 September 2011[1]
Standard Stop Start / EMI SSM13
Oct 2020
  • LP
 re-release

References
  1. "Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs (DD)". Apple Music. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. "Ball Park Music – Sad Rude Future Dude (2010 Single)". theaureview. February 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. "Sad Rude Future Dude (Soundcloud)". 13 October 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. "Ball Park Music-Rich People Are Stupid Video". Vimeo. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. "It's Nice to Be Alive (single)". Apple Music. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. "Ball Park Music new video + Boy & Bear tour support". Mucho Bravado. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. "Ball Park Music - "Literally Baby" [Official Music Video]". Vimeo. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  8. "The J Award 2011". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  10. "Australiancharts.com – Ball Park Music – Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  11. "Australiancharts.com – Ball Park Music – Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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