Underwater Sunshine (or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation)

Background and recording

In March 2009, Counting Crows left Geffen Records, becoming independent recording artists for the first time in eighteen years. The band subsequently decided to record a covers album as their first independent release, with vocalist Adam Duritz noting, "it seemed [like] a good time for it." In April 2011, the band began recording Underwater Sunshine, in Burbank, California, with sound engineer Shawn Dealey co-producing the sessions. Brian Deck, who had previously produced the latter half of the band's previous double album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (2008), mixed the album. The band collaborated to choose their favorite songs to record.

The band worked on versions of Stereophonics' "Local Boy in the Photograph" and Joe Jackson's "It's Different for Girls" during the recording process; however they were not included in the final track listing. They continued to write original songs while recording the album.

The band commissioned fans to create the album's artwork.

Critical reception

The album has received mixed reviews. Hot Press' Edwin McFee who wrote that its "spirit of adventure infuses the opus with a sense of fun and excitement." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album three out of five stars, remarking that it seems a "waste of energy" to release an album of covers, but a few of the tracks were surprisingly fresh. Writing for Daily Express, Simon Gage called the country rock feel of the album "surprisingly lovely", but gave the effort only three out of five stars. An Associated Press review was particularly positive, highlighting the country influence, saying that it "feels like a comfortable pair of jeans."

Another three star review came from Matt Melis of Consequence of Sound who remarked that the album "doesn't reward listeners with definitive versions or perfect takes. Rather, it's sprinkled with 'keeper' moments and variations (subtle and not so) on originals that feel just right."

A negative review came from Irish Independent's John Meagher, who criticized both the song selection and the performances on the album as bland and no better than the originals.

Track listing

1. "Untitled (Love Song)" by The Romany Rye (written by Luke MacMaster) – 5:07
2. "Start Again" by Teenage Fanclub (Norman Blake) – 3:33
3. "Hospital" by Coby Brown (Coby Brown) – 3:08
4. "Mercy" by Tender Mercies (Kurt Stevenson, Patrick Winningham, Chris Boesel) – 3:31
5. "Meet on the Ledge" by Fairport Convention (Richard Thompson) – 3:37
6. "Like Teenage Gravity" by Kasey Anderson (Kasey Anderson) – 5:10
7. "Amie" by Pure Prairie League (Craig Fuller) – 4:33
8. "Coming Around" by Travis (Fran Healy) – 2:59
9. "Ooh La La" by Faces (Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood) – 4:37
10. "All My Failures" by Dawes (Taylor Goldsmith) – 4:37
11. "Return of the Grievous Angel" by Gram Parsons (Gram Parsons, Thomas Stanley Brown) – 4:22
12. "Four White Stallions" by Tender Mercies (Patrick Winningham, Jeff Trott, Dan Vickrey) – 4:00
13. "Jumping Jesus" by Sordid Humor (Tom Barnes, Jim Gordon) – 3:04
14. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" by Bob Dylan and The Byrds (Bob Dylan) – 4:19
15. "The Ballad of El Goodo" by Big Star (Alex Chilton and Chris Bell) – 4:49

16. "Borderline" by Madonna (Reggie Lucas) – 4:18
17. "Girl from the North Country" by Bob Dylan (Dylan) – 5:52

Personnel