You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter is the first full-length album by American experimental band I Set My Friends on Fire. It was released October 7, 2008 via Epitaph Records. It includes the band's most famous song, "Things that Rhyme with Orange", a promotional video for which was released July 22, 2009.[2] Four of the album's tracks are re-released songs from the band's self-released EP I Set My Friends On Fire EP. The album reached #29 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.[3]

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter
Studio album by
I Set My Friends on Fire
ReleasedOctober 7, 2008 (2008-10-07)
Genre
Length35:05
LabelEpitaph[1]
ProducerTravis Richter, Nabil Moo
I Set My Friends on Fire chronology
I Set My Friends On Fire EP
(2008)		 You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter
(2008)		 Astral Rejection
(2011)
Singles from You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter
  1. "Crank That"
    Released: August 26, 2008
  2. "Things That Rhyme With Orange"
    Released: July 22, 2009

Track list
No.TitleLength
1."Sh!t It Talks... I'm Out of Here"1:03
2."Brief Interviews with Hideous Men"1:37
3."Beauty Is in the Eyes of the Beerholder"2:26
4."Things That Rhyme with Orange"3:24
5."ASL"2:42
6."Interlude"1:52
7."Ravenous, Ravenous Rhinos"2:42
8."HxC 2-Step"3:18
9."WTFWJD"3:08
10."Crank That" (Soulja Boy cover)3:02
11."But the Nuns Are Watching"3:26
12."Reese's Pieces, I Don't Know Who John Cleese Is?"6:26
Total length:35:05

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Alternative Press[4]
ChartAttack[5]
Montreal Mirror[6]
Slant Magazine[7]
Sputnikmusic[8]

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter was panned by most music critics. The album received a 0.5 rating out of five from Slant reviewer Nate Adams, who said "[It's] high in the running for worst album of the year ... The music aims for brutality and melody, but misses the mark entirely on both counts."[9] Alternative Press reviewer Phil Freeman also gave the album a half star out of five, remarking that the album "truly fails because it has exactly zero memorable moments".[10]

In a mixed review, John Lucas of the Georgia Straight said that the album "seems designed to test the listener’s tolerance", but that "those willing to embrace a noisy, ambitious, self-indulgent, and downright weird record will find a lot to love".[11] Logan Broger of ChartAttack gave it three stars out of five, saying, "When the grind-electro-hardcore-pop duo aren't being obnoxious or comedic, there are some tunes that are actually really, really brilliant."[12] Also giving it a three out of five, Sputnikmusic reviewer Brent Stephenson said, "The album is really just meant to be as obscenely ridiculous as it possibly can, and in that regard it is quite successful."[13]

Personnel

You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter album personnel as listed on Allmusic.[14]

I Set My Friends On Fire
  • Matt Mehana – lead vocals, lyrics
  • Nabil Moo – programming, guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, drums, percussion, composer, arrangements, vocals
Additional musicians
Production
  • Travis Richter – production
  • Nabil Moo – production
  • Jeff Abarta – production, management
  • Lee Dyess – engineering, mixing
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Kamal Moo – management
  • Sally Koening – legal
  • Brett Gurewitz – artist and repertoire
  • Nick Pritchard – artwork, design

References
  1. "I Set My Friends on Fire - You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter". Retrieved December 19, 2020 – via Punknews.org. A while ago, two kids recorded an "electro grindcore" (read: nü-screamo with a drum machine) cover of Soulja Boy's hit "Crank That" and put it on their MySpace. Because of the spectacle of the whole thing and the foolishness of the MySpace generation, the song eventually reached up to 50,000 plays a day, drew the attention of Epitaph and landed the pair, who call themselves I Set My Friends on Fire, a record deal. Months later, You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter is high in the running for worst album of the year. I don't want to suggest that all grindcore and screamo records are terrible (like any other genre, there exists the good, the average and the bad), but spinning this album is like stubbing your toe for 30 minutes. It'll hurt just enough, but it's more annoying than anything else.
  2. "Post by the band on MySpace".
  3. Top Heatseekers, Week of 10/25/08, Billboard.com
  4. Alternative Press review
  5. "ChartAttack review". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01.
  6. Montreal Mirror review
  7. Slant Magazine review
  8. Sputnikmusic review
  9. Adams, Nate (2008-09-29). "I Set My Friends on Fire – You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Logs". Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  10. Phil Freeman, Review of You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter. Alternative Press, November 2008, p. 158.
  11. "I Set My Friends on Fire tests one's tolerance on You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter". Straight.com. 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  12. Broger, Logan (2008-10-07). "You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter review". ChartAttack. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  13. Stephenson, Brent (2008-10-10). "You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter review". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  14. "You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter - I Set My Friends on Fire". AllMusic. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
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