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Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities

| type = Studio

| artist = Circle Jerks

| cover = oddities abnormalities curiosities.jpg

| alt =

| released = June 20, 1995

| recorded = 1995

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Punk rock

| length = 34:21

| label = Mercury

| producer = Niko Bolas

| prev_title = Gig

| prev_year = 1992

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

{{music ratings|noprose=yes

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r216509|tab=review|first=Paul|last=Tinelli|accessdate=January 27, 2012}}

| rev2 = Rolling Stone

| rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{sfn|Brackett|Hoard|2004|p=164}}

| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Berger|first=Arion|chapter=Circle Jerks|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/164 164]|year=2004|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8}}

}}

Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities is the sixth studio album by American hardcore punk band Circle Jerks, released June 20, 1995, by Mercury Records. It is the band's last studio album to date.

Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities was the band's only full-length studio recording since their 1990 disbandment and 1994 reformation, and also their only release on a major label. The reunion of the Circle Jerks did not last; after several internal problems and guitarist Greg Hetson's involvement with Bad Religion,{{sfn|Morris|Ruland|2017|pp=223-224}} they split up again but have since reunited on numerous occasions. The album moves away from the band's usual hardcore punk style and instead features a traditional punk rock style.

Background

The album was produced by Niko Bolas,{{sfn|Morris|Ruland|2017|p=221}} known for his work with Neil Young,{{sfn|Morris|Ruland|2017|p=221}} Warren Zevon, Melissa Etheridge and Kiss.

"I Wanna Destroy You," a cover of a song by the Soft Boys, featured backing vocals from pop singer/songwriter Deborah Gibson,{{sfn|Morris|Ruland|2017|p=221}} who had just finished a solo album with the same producer the Circle Jerks were using. Gibson later made a surprise appearance at a Circle Jerks performance at punk mecca CBGB to perform the song with the band. The video for the song was also featured on an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head.

The lyrics for "Dog" were taken directly from the opening monologue of the 1985 Lasse Hallström film My Life as a Dog, and referenced Soviet space dog Laika.

The cover art is a distorted photo of microcephalic circus performers Zip and Pip (Elvira and Jenny Lee Snow), who were famed for their roles in the controversial 1932 MGM film Freaks.

Track listing

{{Track listing

| total_length = 34:23

| title1 = Teenage Electric

| writer1 = {{flat list|

}}

| length1 = 2:44

| title2 = Anxious Boy

| writer2 = {{flat list|

}}

| length2 = 2:06

| title3 = 22

| writer3 = {{flat list|

  • Hetson
  • Schloss
  • Morris

}}

| length3 = 2:43

| title4 = Shining Through the Door

| writer4 = {{flat list|

  • Schloss
  • John Denney
  • Morris

}}

| length4 = 3:02

| title5 = I Wanna Destroy You

| writer5 = {{flat list|

}}

| length5 = 3:06

| title6 = Sinking Ship

| writer6 = {{flat list|

  • Schloss
  • Hetson
  • Keith Clark
  • Morris

}}

| length6 = 3:46

| title7 = Brick

| writer7 = {{flat list|

  • Morris
  • Schloss

}}

| length7 = 2:14

| title8 = Fable

| writer8 = {{flat list|

  • Clark
  • Hetson
  • Schloss
  • Morris

}}

| length8 = 3:38

| title9 = Dog

| writer9 = {{flat list|

}}

| length9 = 2:53

| title10 = Grey Life

| writer10 = {{flat list|

}}

| length10 = 2:49

| title11 = Exhaust Breath

| writer11 = {{flat list|

  • Morris
  • Schloss

}}

| length11 = 3:00

| title12 = Career Day

| writer12 = {{flat list|

  • Clark
  • Morris

}}

| length12 = 2:23

}}

Release and reception

In an AllMusic review, Paul Tinelli called it "an excellent hard rock album with few weak spots along the way."{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/oddities-abnormalities-and-curiosities-mw0000644041|title=Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities - Circle Jerks|first=Paul|last=Tinelli|access-date=13 June 2019|website=allmusic.com}} Steve Kuhn of the Washington City Paper criticized the cover of "I Wanna Destroy You" calling it "lackluster" and said "the remaining majority of Oddities, if not exactly revolutionary, is perfectly adequate."{{sfn|Kuhn|1995}} Rolling Stone gave the album three stars and called it "a perfectly respectable hard-rock album."{{sfn|Brackett|Hoard|2004|p=164}}

Personnel

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

  • {{cite book|last1=Brackett|first1=Bathan|last2=Hoard|first2=Christian David|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2004|isbn=9780743201698}}
  • {{Cite web|last=Kuhn|first=Steve|title=Oddities, Abnormalities and Curiosities |url=https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/article/13006882/oddities-abnormalities-and-curiosities|work=Washington City Paper|date=August 18, 1995|access-date=June 14, 2020}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Keith|last2=Ruland|first2=Jim|title=My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor |year=2017 |publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0306825804}}

{{Circle Jerks}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1995 albums

Category:Circle Jerks albums