Stutter (album)

In 1980, drummer Gavan Whelan and bassist Jim Glennie formed a band when they began practicing the Fall and Joy Division songs at Whelan's house.[1] Guitarist Paul Gilbertson joined the pair; the trio went through several vocalists, including Danny Rim and Jenny Ingham.[1][2] The band went through several name changes: Venereal and the Diseases, Volume Distortion, and Model Team International, before simplifying it to Model Team. In 1982, as they were planning to record a demo with Ingham, the band met Tim Booth while attending the University of Manchester. Booth joined initially as their dancer, before replacing Ingham as their vocalist. They briefly used the name Tribal Outlook, prior to using the moniker James.[2] By the following year, they were making frequent appearances on the local club scene, and supported New Order at The Haçienda club.[2][3]

The club was owned by Factory Records; Factory founder Tony Wilson wanted the band to sign with the label, and proposed making an album. The band felt they weren't ready to mark one, instead opting to record an EP. The resulting effort, the band's debut EP Jimone, was released in November 1983. Over the course of the next year, the band disappeared publicly for a few reasons: they wished to work on their song-writing; Booth struggled with liver disease, which had plagued him throughout his teenage years; and Gilbertson's erratic behaviour, resulting in him not showing up for rehearsals, and often disrupting their live shows.[2] By the time James released their second EP James II in February 1985, Gilbertson had been replaced by his guitar tutor Larry Gott.[2]

Despite Factory Records having released it and Jimone, the band wasn't formally signed to the label. Glennie thought Factory worked inefficiently and wasn't trusting them to release an album, with Whelan adding that the label would pay to have a single made, only for them to have no money left to promote it.[4] James received praise from Morrissey of the Smiths, who proceeded to ask the band to support them on tour.[3] The two previous EPs were combined into the Village Fire EP, which was released in June 1985.[5] With the aim to have their songs reach a wider audience, the band signed to Sire and Blanco y Negro Records in November 1985.[4] "Chain Mail" was released single in January 1986.[5] Stutter was produced by Patti Smith live guitarist Lenny Kaye, and engineered by Gil Norton, at Amazon Studios in Liverpool in March 1986.[6][7]

Musically, the sound of Stutter has been described as folk rock.[8] James initially wanted to title it Lost Innocence, before deciding on Stutter.[9] The opening track "Skullduggery" talks about insects eating peoples' brains, and is followed by "Scarecrow", a song with the time signature of 6/8.[10][11] Booth wrote the latter in 1983, having been inspired by Smith; it includes a reference to the biblical figure Joshua.[12][13] "Johnny Yen" is satirical jab at the concepts of outsider music, and being a tortured artist.[14] The band had a different song with a similar lyrical theme, which was improvised live despite being unfinished. "Johnny Yen" was inspired by witnessing Iggy Pop live.[15]

"Summer Song" is about people that damage the planet for the sake of progress, and is followed by "Really Hard", which talks about being misunderstood.[11][16] Booth referred to the former was one of their first "journey" tracks – songs that don't follow particular structures; they had worked on it over the course of a few years.[17][18] Booth considered "Billy's Shirts" one of the band's "stranger experiments in song."[19] "Why So Close" is a pseudo-protest track about the questionable choice in working with nuclear energy.[11] It is an acoustic remake of "Fire So Close", which appeared on Jimone.[20] The closing track "Black Hole" talks about the mind being one's worst enemy, and featured some of Booth's earliest lyrics.[21][22]

In June 1986, "So Many Ways" was released as a single, and featured "Withdrawn" and "Just Hipper" as extra tracks.[5][23] In early July, the band played a warm-up show prior to a performance at WOMAD Festival.[24] At the end of the month, Stutter was released on 28 July, through Sire and Blanco y Negro Records.[25] The following month, the band embarked on a four-show stint of the UK.[24] With the exception of some performances in Europe, the band opted not to tour in support of the album.[26]

"Skullduggery" was sampled as part of a remix done by Andrew Weatherall of one of the band's later singles "Come Home" (1989).[27] Stutter was released on CD for the first time in 1991, and again in 2017 as part of the Justhipper (The Complete Sire & Blanco Y Negro Recordings 1986 – 1988) compilation, with "Chain Mail", "Uprising", "Hup-Springs", and "Just Hipper" as bonus tracks.[28][29] "So Many Ways" and "Johnny Yen" were included on the band's fourth compilation album Fresh as a Daisy – The Singles (2007).[30] The music video for "So Many Ways" was included on the career-spanning box set The Gathering Sound (2012).[31]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[32]
Martin C. Strong	6/10[33]
Melody Maker	Mixed[34]
NME	Favourable[11]
Robert Christgau	B[35]
Record Mirror	[36]
Smash Hits	9/10[37]
Sounds	[10]
Q	Mixed[38]

Stutter was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. NME's Dave Haslam wrote that it was a "cleanly delivered debut LP, gleaming with creativity and confidence." He noted "such a tremendous livewire energy in the music that once again I'm left to rationalise a love with is instinctive, no less."[11] Duncan Wright of Smash Hits said every track was a "polished nugget of fantasy and imagination full of mind-boggling details."[37] Melody Maker writer Jim Shelley said the album was "a safe, sensible James record." He complimented Kaye's "tidy production" for giving clarity to Booth's "eccentric existentialism."[34] Music critic Robert Christgau saw the album as a "place pleasant, unkempt, and all their own, but not private enough to suit them--hence their wry, well-meaning, angst-ridden, and ultimately impenetrable lyrics."[35]

In a review for Record Mirror, Eleanor Levy said that the album "shows just how difficult it is to transfer [the] spontaneity [of their earlier work] to vinyl." She added that it was a "mixed bag indeed. It's not the album it should have been — but it's close."[36] AllMusic reviewer Dean Carlson called it "[t]hin, spiky, jagged folk music", and commented on the performances by the band: "Booth is a mere bystander to his wild vocals while the rest of the band watch ... Whelan have an absolute fit on — what sounds like — four drum kits at once. This is shoddy, shameless chaos. Nothing more than a terribly produced mess of tragic rock-star baiting and deliberate discordance. An amazing debut."[32] Chris Roberts of Sounds considered it "such a slight disappointment." He added that it was "an interesting but club-footed student exercise."[10]

Q reviewer Phil Sutcliffe said there was "a sense of echoey space around busy little instruments," with the production emphasises detail only to reveal ... Gott and ... Glennie in pedestrian form."[38] The Guardian listed Stutter as one of the "1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die", praising the record thus: "Before Madchester, and before the Horlicks rock of "Sit Down" became ubiquitous, James were an invigorating prospect: a folk-pop band apparently engaged in a bout of pro-wrestling with their instruments. Their debut album clangs like a grand piano tumbling downstairs - leaving singalong melodies in its wake."[39] Reviewing the Justhipper compilation, Frank Valish of Under the Radar said the album "acquits itself surprisingly well after 40 years. The guitar lines are sharp. The rhythms are engaging. The melodies are precise and not far off from those that would make James famous in the '90s."[40]

Stutter reached number 68 on the UK Albums Chart.[41]

All songs written by James.[6]

Side one

1. "Skullduggery" – 2:43
2. "Scarecrow" – 3:00
3. "So Many Ways" – 3:46
4. "Just Hip" – 1:46
5. "Johnny Yen" – 3:41
6. "Summer Song" – 4:16

Side two

7. "Really Hard" – 4:13
8. "Billy's Shirts" – 3:27
9. "Why So Close" – 3:48
10. "Withdrawn" – 3:42
11. "Black Hole" – 5:29

Personnel per sleeve.[6]

Citations

Sources

• Stutter at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)