Length 42:58 Release date 17 March 2008 | Artist Neon Neon Label Lex Records | |
Released 17 March 2008 (2008-03-17) (UK)
18 March 2008 (2008-03-18) (U.S.) Stainless Style
(2008) Praxis Makes Perfect
(2013) Genres Pop music, Hip hop music, Electronica Similar Boom Bip albums, Electronica albums | ||
Neon neon neon theme
Stainless Style is the debut album from Neon Neon—a project from Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys and electronic artist Boom Bip—which was released in March 2008 via Lex Records. The album was streamed in its entirety on the band's Myspace page for one week before its physical release.
Contents
Stainless Style is a loose concept album based on the tumultuous life of DeLorean Motor Company founder John DeLorean, and features a number of high-profile guest appearances from Fab Moretti of The Strokes, Har Mar Superstar, Yo Majesty, Spank Rock, Cate Le Bon and Fatlip. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize.
Background
According to Rhys, he and Boom Bip (real name Bryan Hollon) had been working together on various projects before they finally came up with Neon Neon. In an interview with Sam Richards, Rhys stated:
Rhys and Boom Bip had also previously collaborated on "Do's & Don'ts" from the latter's 2005 album Blue Eyed in the Red Room.
Production
Recording for the album began in London in August 2006, and it was gradually mixed and finished over the course of the following year in London and Los Angeles. According to the band, the primary goal was to make something entirely different from their previous work. "It had to be something completely outside of ourselves," said Hollon. Rhys adds that although the duo were trying to make something different, "we didn't realize we were going to make a mid-'80s synth-pop record. That was never part of the plan."
In order to recreate this mid-'80s synthpop sound, the band relied on keyboards such as the Casio SK-5, Korg MiniKorg 700 and Roland SH-101, as well as Casio drum pads and sticks and a 1964 Silvertone Jupiter guitar. Concerning the album's production Hollon said
Concept album
Stainless Style is a concept album based on the tumultuous life of playboy car designer John DeLorean. In an interview with Marc Hogan, Rhys described it as
The album's title is a pun on stainless steel, deriving from the fact that the only car produced by the DeLorean Motor Company—the DeLorean DMC-12—was distinctive by the fact that its body was fiberglass with a stainless steel veneer. DeLorean also began selling "D=MC2" stainless steel watches for $3,495 each on the internet in 2000. The song "Raquel" is based upon tales of an affair DeLorean allegedly had with actress Raquel Welch in the mid-'70s, and mentions many true-life biographical details about Welch, such as her Bolivian father and Irish mother, her birth in "north Chicago", and education and upbringing in California. The song is sung from DeLorean's perspective, as he delivers lines to Welch such as "I saw you as a movie star, but now you're riding in my car." According to Rhys, "I Lust U" recounts "a dark period in DeLorean's life when he was having lots of affairs", while "Michael Douglas" describes the time when DeLorean "redesigned his own chin while sitting at pool parties in LA with Michael Douglas."
Track listing
All tracks written by B. Hollon and G. Rhys; Except where indicated.
Songs
1Neon Theme2:22
2Dream Cars3:25
3I Told Her on Alderaan3:44