2×4 (Guadalcanal Diary album)

2×4 is the third album by Guadalcanal Diary.^[6] It was released in 1987.^[7]

2×4
Studio album by Guadalcanal Diary
Released	1987 (1987)
Recorded	1985–87
Genre	Alternative
Length	43:16
Label	Elektra Records[1]
Producer	Don Dixon[2]
Guadalcanal Diary chronology
Jamboree (1986) 2×4 (1987) Flip-Flop (1989)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
New Musical Express	3/10[5]

The album peaked at No. 183 on the Billboard 200.^[8]

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the album "smashing," writing that the band members "dip into their shadowy art-rock pasts ... to finally create music as distinctive as the lyrics."^[9]

AllMusic wrote that 2×4 "sounds like the group's strongest and most confident album."^[3] Paste included the album at No. 64 on its list of "The 80 Best Albums of the 1980s".^[10]

Track listing

1. "Litany (Life Goes On)" (Attaway) – 3:41
2. "Under the Yoke" (Walls) – 4:28
3. "Get over It" (Attaway/Crowe) – 3:00
4. "Little Birds" (Attaway) – 3:57
5. "Things Fall Apart" (Attaway/Poe/Walls) – 2:44
6. "Let the Big Wheel Roll" (Walls) – 2:40
7. "And Your Bird Can Sing" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:07
8. "Where Angels Fear to Tread" (Walls) – 3:13
9. "Newborn" (Attaway) – 4:41
10. "Winds of Change" (Walls) – 2:55
11. "Say Please" (Attaway) – 2:10
12. "3 AM" (Attaway/Walls) – 4:12
13. "Lips of Steel" (Attaway/Walls) – 3:28

Bonus tracks

1. "Home [Joe Blaney Mix]" – 2:42
2. "Shango" – 4:29
3. "It's Time" – 2:30
4. "Carrying the Torch (demo version)" – 2:56
5. "Just an Excuse (demo version)" – 3:03
6. "Lips of Steel (demo version)" – 3:36
7. "Under the Yoke (demo version)" – 3:04
8. "Winds of Change (demo version)" – 3:21
9. "Get Over It (demo version)" – 2:18
10. "3 A.M. (demo version)" – 3:53
11. "Tutti-Frutti (demo version)" – 1:52

Personnel

• Terry Allen – photography
• Murray Attaway – guitar, harmonica, vocals
• Joe Blaney – mixing
• Rhett Crowe – bass guitar
• Don Dixon – producer
• Guadalcanal Diary – artwork
• George Pappas – engineer
• John Poe – drums, vocals
• Dan Vaganek – engineer
• Jeff Walls – guitar, keyboards, vocals, kalimba, lap steel guitar

Charts

Album

Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1988	The Billboard 200	183

References

1. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 512.
2. The Encyclopedia of Record Producers. Billboard Books. 1999. p. 188.
3. "2X4 – Guadalcanal Diary | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
4. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 29.
5. Stevenson, Campbell (28 November 1987). "Guadalcanal Diary: 2×4". New Musical Express. p. 35.
6. "Spins". SPIN. 17 March 1988 – via Google Books.
7. "Guadalcanal Diary Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
8. Whitburn, Joel (2010). Top Pop Albums (7th ed.). Record Research Inc. p. 329.
9. "Guadalcanal Diary". Trouser Press. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
10. "The 80 Best Albums of the 1980s". Paste. 12 January 2020.