Fourth Drawer Down

In July 1981 the Associates appeared in Smash Hits magazine with lead vocalist Billy Mackenzie announcing his plan to release ten singles over the remainder of the year.{{Cite journal|last=Milligan|first=Mark|date=9 July 1981|title=Independent Bitz|journal=Smash Hits|volume= 3:14|pages= 43}} His ambition was founded on a plan to use competing label money to record new material then release previously recorded material.{{Cite book|title=The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy Mackenzie|last=Doyle|first=Tom|publisher=Polygon|year=2011|location=Edinburgh}} Many of the songs that appeared on Fourth Drawer Down had a notably darker and more experimental edge than their debut studio album The Affectionate Punch (1980), although MacKenzie's lyrics often defied literal interpretation. An early single "Tell Me Easter's on Friday" is propelled by a somber pulsing beat with a cycling mournful guitar line. The song "Q Quarters" — called "desolately beautiful" by Smash Hits{{Cite journal|last=Starr|first=Red|date=9 July 1981|title=Single Reviews|journal=Smash Hits|volume=3:14|pages=40}} — ends with the striking lines: "Washing down bodies / Seems to me a dead-end chore / Floors me completely / Beauty drips from every pore". Washing down bodies was a job that Billy MacKenzie said his grandmother did during World War II.{{Cite journal|last=Black|first=Johnny|date=18 March 1982|title=The Art of Parties|journal=Smash Hits|volume= 4:6|pages=5}} The song "Kitchen Person" features a rhythm taken from an electric typewriter and MacKenzie singing down the tube of a vacuum cleaner (an effort that earned them Single of the Week in Melody Maker).

The album title had a literal origin: the fourth drawer down in a chest in the band's flat at the time contained their supply of "over the counter herbal relaxant tablets that when taken by the handful... would acts as a sleeping aid as well as producing a pleasant bedtime buzz." The cover photograph was taken in the swimming pool of the recording studio they used in Oxfordshire.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |last=Kellman |first=Andy |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/fourth-drawer-down-mw0000463301 |title=Fourth Drawer Down – The Associates |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=15 December 2014}}

| rev2 = Mojo

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Segal |first=Victoria |title=Personal record |magazine=Mojo |issue=271 |date=June 2016 |page=105}}

| rev3 = Q

| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Quantick |first=David |author-link=David Quantick |title=Track Records |magazine=Q |issue=360 |date=July 2016 |pages=116–17}}

| rev4 = Record Collector

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Waring |first=Charles |url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/affectionate-punch-fourth-drawer-sulk |title=The Associates – The Affectionate Punch, Fourth Drawer Down, Sulk |magazine=Record Collector |issue=454 |date=June 2016 |access-date=13 December 2020}}

| rev5 = Smash Hits

| rev5Score = 7/10{{cite magazine |last=Dellar |first=Fred |title=Associates: Fourth Drawer Down |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=4 |issue=2 |date=21 January – 3 February 1982 |page=17}}

| rev6 = Uncut

| rev6Score = 8/10{{cite magazine |last=McKay |first=Alastair |title=The Associates: The Affectionate Punch / Fourth Drawer Down / Sulk |magazine=Uncut |issue=229 |date=June 2016 |pages=85–87}}

}}

Fourth Drawer Down has been well received by music critics, with reviewers commenting on the band's increased experimentalism. NME journalist Richard Cook wrote that the Associates "brutalise form with a purpose," continuing: "In trying to dismantle the accepted notions of organised playing and reconstructing with uncaring regard for accessibility – all these tracks are cluttered, confused and strewn with near-random noise – The Associates reassert their humanity in electric music."{{cite magazine |last=Cook |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Cook (journalist) |url=http://www.billymackenzie.com/articles/fddreview.htm |title=Unlimited Company |magazine=NME |access-date=16 December 2014}}

Andy Kellman of AllMusic observed "Those who are familiar with Associates know this because of Mackenzie's operatically soulful voice, [Alan] Rankine's wildly experimental production, and, when used, his atonal utilitarian guitar playing that seems like it's playing the multi-instrumentalist more than he's playing it. Just as there are Smiths fans who listen intently to Johnny Marr's guitar playing and attempt to block out Morrissey's flamboyance, there surely are numerous beings who tune out Mackenzie's crooning to hone[sic] in on Rankine's actions. Those who can appreciate both are in for a real feast, and those who prefer one over the other still have much to sink their teeth into."{{Citation |title=Fourth Drawer Down - The Associates {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/fourth-drawer-down-mw0000463301 |access-date=2024-05-26 |language=en}}

In a 2016 review, Alastair McKay of Uncut called Fourth Drawer Down "an extraordinary document on which the sense of mystery deepens, and the commitment to sonic experiment becomes more pronounced." Trouser Press noted an overall sense of "determined experimentation" on the album, despite finding it "lessened by the exclusion of certain B-sides in favor of later tracks which reveal Mackenzie's growing preference for pose over accomplishment."{{cite web |last1=Green |first1=Jim |last2=Aswad |first2=Jem |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/associates |title=Associates |website=Trouser Press |access-date=31 July 2016}}

{{track listing

| all_writing = Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine, except where noted.

| headline = Side one

| title1 = White Car in Germany

| length1 = 5:28

| title2 = A Girl Named Property

| length2 = 4:56

| title3 = Kitchen Person

| length3 = 4:53

| title4 = Q Quarters

| length4 = 4:55

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| total_length =

| title5 = Tell Me Easter's on Friday

| length5 = 4:29

| title6 = The Associate

| writer6 = {{hlist|Billy Mackenzie|Alan Rankine|Michael Dempsey}}

| length6 = 5:00

| title7 = Message Oblique Speech

| length7 = 5:35

| title8 = An Even Whiter Car

| length8 = 4:45

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 2000 CD reissue bonus tracks

| title9 = Fearless (It Takes a Full Moon)

| length9 = 3:37

| title10 = Point Si

| length10 = 5:15

| title11 = Straw Towels

| length11 = 5:16

| title12 = Kissed

| length12 = 6:11

| title13 = Blue Soap

| length13 = 3:52

}}

Credits are adapted from the Fourth Drawer Down liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Fourth Drawer Down|others=the Associates|year=1981|publisher=Situation Two|type=CD booklet}}

The Associates

• Billy Mackenzie – vocals; one-string guitar
• Alan Rankine – guitars; keyboards; other instruments
• Michael Dempsey – bass guitar; keyboards
• John Murphy – drums; marimba

Production and artwork

• Mike Hedges – production; engineering
• Flood – production
• Antoine Giacomoni – sleeve photography

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{discogs master|72538}}

{{The Associates}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourth Drawer Down}}

Category:The Associates (band) albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Hedges

Category:Albums produced by Flood (producer)

Category:1981 compilation albums

Category:Beggars Banquet Records compilation albums

Category:Situation Two compilation albums

Category:V2 Records compilation albums