Sing Sing Death House

Sing Sing Death House is the second studio album by the American punk rock band The Distillers, released in 2002 on Hellcat Records. The song "Seneca Falls" was featured in the game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and is a reference to the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.

Sing Sing Death House
Studio album by The Distillers
Released	January 29, 2002
Recorded	April 2001
Studio	Westbeach Recorders, Hollywood, CA
Genre	Punk rock
Length	28:43
Label	Hellcat
Producer	The Distillers
The Distillers chronology
The Distillers (2000) Sing Sing Death House (2002) Coral Fang (2003)
Singles from Sing Sing Death House
"The Young Crazed Peeling" Released: 2002 "City of Angels" Released: 2002

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Kerrang!	[3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[4]
Stylus	6/10[5]

Recording and production

Sing Sing Death House was recorded in a week. Production was rushed as the band was supposed to have the album completed within two weeks. However, after their engineer disappeared during the recording sessions, the band was forced to rush the album to meet deadlines. Following its completion, Epitaph delayed its release for nine months.^[6]

Composition and lyrics

The lyrics on Sing Sing Death House are more direct than on the band's self-titled debut album. This came about due to criticism of the album's nonsensical lyrics in a review written by The Village Voice,^[7] which greatly affected Brody. Brody called the review "scathing and hilarious and life-altering", but was grateful for the review's honesty. ^[8]

Critical reception

Andrew Bregman from AllMusic noted the album is "a story with an uncharacteristic ending that punks born of squalor can rise up and create music as impassioned and relatively positive as this", also calling it "authentic". In a 2003 piece called "Bands to Watch," Tim Kenneally from Spin wrote, "the band conjures the spirit of ’77 with razor-bladeriffery while [Brody] shouts about urban blight, school shootings, and her troubled youth".^[9]

Track listing

All tracks written by Brody Dalle except where noted.

1. "Sick of it all" – 3:10
2. "I am a Revenant" – 3:28
3. "Seneca Falls" – 3:01
4. "The young crazed Peeling" – 3:16
5. "Sing Sing Death House" – 1:43
6. "Bullet & the Bullseye" – 1:12
7. "City of Angels" – 3:29
8. "Young Girl" – 2:42
9. "Hate me" (Dalle, Mazzola) – 1:10
10. "Desperate" – 1:22
11. "I understand" – 1:47
12. "Lordy Lordy" – 2:19

Personnel

• Brody Dalle – guitar, vocals
• Casper Mazzola – guitar, vocals
• Andy Outbreak – drums
• Ryan Sinn – bass, vocals

Production

• The Distillers – producers
• Donnell Cameron – engineer
• Dave Carlock – engineer
• Kevin Guarnieri – engineer, mixing
• Brett Gurewitz – engineer, mixing
• Brody Dalle – artwork
• Andy Outbreak – artwork
• C.F. Martin – layout design, construction
• Paul Miner – layout design, construction
• Knowles Allen – photography

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Billboard Top Independent Albums	29

References

1. AllMusic review
2. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Distillers". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
3. Alexandra, Rae (February 2, 2002). "Trouble Brewing | Albums". Kerrang!. No. 889. EMAP. p. 50. ISSN 0262-6624.
4. "The Distillers: Sing Sing Death House : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
5. Hickman, Brett (September 1, 2003). "The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House - Stylus Magazines". Archived from the original on October 21, 2004. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
6. "Distillers' punk comes equipped with fangs". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
7. "So this Guy walks into a Bar..." The Village Voice. December 12, 2000. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
8. Garber-Paul, Elisabeth; Garber-Paul, Elisabeth (October 30, 2020). "Brody Dalle on the Distillers' Debut at 20: 'I Was Trying to Find My Sea Legs'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
9. "Bands To Watch: The Distillers | SPIN". Spin. July 23, 2003. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.

External links

• Sing Sing Death House at AllMusic. Retrieved November 14, 2016.