Sound of Lies is a 1997 album released by Minneapolis music

Music of Minnesota

The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of native Americans, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Their relatives, the half-breed Métis fur-trading voyageurs, introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late...

 group Jayhawks

Jayhawks (band)

The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid 1980s. Their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 80s and 90s like Uncle Tupelo, The Gear Daddies and The Honeydogs...

. It peaked at #112 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

.

With the departure of Mark Olson

Mark Olson (musician)

Mark Olson is an American musician. He is one of the founding members of acclaimed alternative country bands The Jayhawks and The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers and a respected singer/songwriter in his own right....

, Gary Louris

Gary Louris

Gary Louris is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from...

 becomes the principal songwriter for Sound of Lies with an occasional co-write with bassist Marc Perlman. New drummer Tim O'Reagan also contributes "Bottomless Cup".

Reception

In his review for Allmusic, critic Thom Owen praised the album and wrote " The lyrics have a naked, emotional honesty which would have been more affecting if the music echoed its sentiment, yet the record still has a subtle grace and power, proving that the Jayhawks remain a distinctive band without Olson." Music critic Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 gave the album a 'bomb' rating while David Browne of Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

gave the album an B- rating and contrasted the Jayhawks with Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...

. He wrote the album "is caught between two worlds — it's a little bit wimpy country, a little bit wimpy rock & roll — and ends up lacking the power of either."

Track listing

All songs by Gary Louris unless otherwise noted.

1. "The Man Who Loved Life" – 5:00
2. "Think About It" (Louris, Perlman) – 5:37
3. "Trouble" (Louris, Perlman) – 4:50
4. "It's Up to You" – 3:38
5. "Stick in the Mud" – 3:34
6. "Big Star" – 4:25
7. "Poor Little Fish" – 3:56
8. "Sixteen Down" – 5:23
9. "Haywire" – 5:21
10. "Dying on the Vine" (Louris, Perlman) – 5:52
11. "Bottomless Cup" (Tim O'Reagan) – 4:14
12. "Sound of Lies" – 3:56

Personnel

• Gary Louris
  Gary Louris
  Gary Louris is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from...
  
   – guitar, vocals
• Marc Perlman – bass, guitar, vocals
• Karen Grotberg – organ, piano, keyboards, Wurlitzer, vocals
• Tim O'Reagan – drums, vocals
• Kraig Johnson – guitar, E-Bow
• Jessy Greene – violin, viola, cello

Additional musicians:

• Matthew Sweet
  Matthew Sweet
  Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
  
   – vocals
• Pauli Ryan – percussion

Production notes

• Brian Paulson – producer, mixing
• George Drakoulias
  George Drakoulias
  George Drakoulias is a Greek-American music producer and A&R executive at the American Recordings label. He is often considered a protege of Rick Rubin....
  
  – mixing
• Mark Haines – engineer
• Victor Janacua – engineer
• Brian Jenkins – engineer
• Jim Scott – mixing
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering
• Allen Sanderson – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Mike Scotella – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Joe Zook – assistant engineer
• Dan Corrigan – photography

External links

• Jayhawks fan site discography.