Stands for Decibels


Stands for Decibels is the debut studio album by American power pop band the dB's, released in January 1981 by Albion Records. The album was commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed. Stands for Decibels was ranked No. 76 on Pitchfork's list of "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s".
At the time of its release, the dB's consisted of singer/guitarists Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder, and drummer Will Rigby. The songwriting was evenly divided between Stamey and Holsapple, although Stamey became known for writing the stranger, more avant-garde numbers while Holsapple wrote the more accessible, poppier songs. Both Stamey and Holsapple played keyboards occasionally as well. Holder and Rigby did not receive any songwriting credits.
The first track, "Black and White", was also their first single.
The album was dedicated to George Scott III.

Track listing

;Side 1
  1. "Black and White" – 3:09
  2. "Dynamite" – 2:35
  3. "She's Not Worried" – 3:04
  4. "The Fight" – 2:54
  5. "Espionage" - 2:39
  6. "Tearjerkin'" – 3:56
;Side 2
  1. "Cycles per Second" - 3:06
  2. "Bad Reputation" – 3:11
  3. "Big Brown Eyes" – 1:58
  4. "I'm in Love" – 3:29
  5. "Moving in Your Sleep" - 4:35
Most later CD versions, came with two bonus tracks, the Holsapple-written single "Judy" and "Big Brown Eyes" B-side "Baby Talk".

Reception

A retrospective AllMusic review by Chris Woodstra stated "On their debut, the dB's combined a reverence for British pop and arty, post-punk leanings that alternate between minimalism and a love of quirky embellishment, odd sounds, and unexpected twists; Stands for Decibels is clearly a collegiate pop experiment, but rarely is experimentation so enjoyable and irresistibly catchy", concluding that the album "stands not only as a landmark power pop album, but also as a prototype for much of the Southern jangle that would follow".

Personnel

The dB's
Technical