Slightly Odway

Recording

The group's line-up of Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Kevin Mitchell on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Vanessa Thornton on bass guitar and Kevin's older brother, Brett Mitchell, on drums started recording Slightly Odway in March 1997 with United Kingdom's Neill King (The Smiths, Madness, Elvis Costello) producing.

Content

According to Australian music journalist Ed Nimmervoll, the title "is a comment on the slightly odd way they feel they approach life as well as music".

In March 2002 Kevin reflected on his song writing "It didn't bother me that people didn't pick up on the lyrics. I'd made a conscious effort to focus on lyrics, because there were some lyrics on Slightly Odway that I was a little embarrassed about, ones where I hadn't really been trying. But I certainly didn't want vindication or attention for what I'd written."

Album cover

The bowling green on the artwork of the album is the Kardinya Bowling Club, where bass player Vanessa Thornton's grandparents played. The spaceship is in fact a Futuro house that was located on the corner of Leach Highway and Karel Avenue in Willetton, close to where the band members grew up. The structure was used as part of a sales office for a nearby residential subdivision and was removed in 1996, after being donated to the Barking Gecko Theatre Company.

Release

Jebediah had issued a single version of "Jerks of Attention" on 8 December 1996, which was produced by Lindsay Gravina, and charted on the ARIA Singles Chart in 1997. Jedediah and King re-recorded "Jerks of Attention" for the album.

The vinyl version of Slightly Odway contains a version of "Tracksuit" (originally on their debut extended play, Twitch, August 1996), re-recorded with the album's producer Neill King. The Asian version of Slightly Odway, released in 1998, also contains "Tracksuit" and "Monument" (a B-side from "Leaving Home", June 1997), as well as a printed copy of the lyrics.

Chart performance

Slightly Odway was released on 8 September 1997, which peaked at number seven on the ARIA Albums Chart, and number two on the ARIA alternative charts. Within four months it was certified gold, then platinum and eventually went double-platinum.

Kevin Mitchell stated in a 2012 interview with X-Press magazine that, to the surprise of numerous people, none of the singles from the album received commercial radio airplay. Despite this the single, "Jerks of Attention", which was released in December 1996, reached number 62 on the ARIA Singles Charts. The second single, "Leaving Home", released on 27 June 1997, reached number 48 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and was ranked number 10 in the Triple J Hottest 100 music poll for 1997.

The third single, "Military Strongmen", released on 11 October 1997, peaked at No. 65 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The fourth and fifth singles, "Teflon" and "Harpoon", released on 23 March 1998 and 22 June 1998 reached number 41 and number 46 respectively on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Critical reception

In his retrospective review, Jonathan Lewis of AllMusic wrote that Slightly Odway "shows Jebediah as a talented young band, despite the flimsy songwriting and the lack of light and shade on the album. Once Jebediah learn they don't need to bludgeon the audience with their guitar-playing they will be better off for it." Lewis preferred the earlier version of "Jerks of Attention", which is "one of their finest songs", over the album version, which was "a half-paced version of the original single: it certainly doesn't improve it."

In May 2011 Matt Neal of The Warrnambool Standard felt the album was "packed with big power chords, frontman Kevin "Bob Evans" Mitchell's distinctive sing-through-your-nose approach, inspired bursts of guitar noise and a love of crowd-friendly melodies. Some of it hasn't aged well".

Recognition

The album placed at number 15 in a list of the greatest 100 Australian albums compiled by Australian youth radio station Triple J.

Track listing

All tracks written by Jebediah (Chris Daymond, Brett Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell and Vanessa Thornton), except as noted.

Personnel