Selling the Sizzle! is an album by the Canadian band the Smugglers, released in 1996.[2][3] "Especially You" was the first single.[4]
| Selling the Sizzle! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Studio | Sonic Iguana Studios | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Label | Mint/Lookout![1] | |||
| Producer | Mass Giorgini | |||
| The Smugglers chronology | ||||
| ||||
The band promoted the album by touring with the Mr. T Experience.[5] Selling the Sizzle! sold more than 13,000 copies in its first six months of release.[6]
Production
Recorded in Lafayette, Indiana, the album was produced by Mass Giorgini.[7][8] "Dusty's Lament" is an instrumental.[9] "Reno Nickel" is about the band's love of gambling.[10]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| Deseret News |  [12] |
| Winnipeg Sun | [13] |
Trouser Press thought that, "with drum-tight playing, soaring fidelity and [Grant] Lawrence as the versatile mouthpiece, the Smugs step out of the slop-rock shadows as a rip-roaring ’60s showband with deliciously memorable party songs that serve equally well as tribute and parody."[14] The Globe and Mail determined that "garage rock soldiers on, cheap, cheerful, sloppy, unpretentious and fun."[15] The Washington Post opined that the songs "depend more on enthusiasm than originality, but there's no shortage of the former."[16]
The Province deemed the album "a platter full of greasy rock 'n' roll junk food and The Smugglers' best so far."[17] The Record concluded that "the cartoonish Nuggets-redux band is lost somewhere in the no- man's-land between camp appeal and real songwriting."[18] The Calgary Herald called Selling the Sizzle! "classic '60s one-zit wonder rock all dressed up in punk attitude."[19] The Deseret News wrote: "Rooted in garage punk-rock, the Smugglers play catchy, if somewhat nasal, two- or three-minute songs that breeze right by."[12]
AllMusic stated that the Smugglers "strike their usual midpoint between the Mr. T Experience and pure '60s beat-rock."[11]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "To Serve, Protect and Entertain" | |
| 2. | "Especially You" | |
| 3. | "Bishy-Bishy!" | |
| 4. | "Big Trouble" | |
| 5. | "She Ain't No Egyptian" | |
| 6. | "Death of a Romantic" | |
| 7. | "The Dedication" | |
| 8. | "I Need a Vacation" | |
| 9. | "The B 'n' L" | |
| 10. | "Pick 'Em Up Truck" | |
| 11. | "Queasy" | |
| 12. | "Bad Guys" | |
| 13. | "Dusty's Lament" | |
| 14. | "Reno Nickel" | |
| 15. | "Barkerville" |