Braxton Hicks is the fourth studio album by Australian alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Jebediah

Jebediah

Jebediah is an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. The group consists of vocalist and guitarist Kevin Mitchell, guitarist Chris Daymond, bassist Vanessa Thornton, and Kevin's brother Brett Mitchell on drums...

, released on Redline Records

Redline Records

Redline Records is a Fremantle-based independent record label. Originally started as a joint project between the band Jebediah and their management company Naked Ape Management, it has evolved into being a record label of local Perth indie bands. Redline Records are distributed by Shock Records...

 on 12 July 2004.

Making of the album

The album was recorded in January and February 2004 and was self-produced by the band under the watchful eye of engineer Matt Lovell

Matt Lovell

Matt Lovell is a notable Australian record producer and mixer for many artists, such as; Something for Kate, The Mess Hall, Tom Morgan and Shihad...

 (Silverchair

Silverchair

Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...

, Something for Kate

Something for Kate

Something for Kate are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Members include songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Paul Dempsey, drummer Clint Hyndman and bassist Stephanie Ashworth...

, The Mess Hall

The Mess Hall

The Mess Hall are a two-piece drums and guitar combo based in Sydney, Australia specialising in "raw, edgy bluesy rock." The band consists of Jed Kurzel and Cec Condon ....

) in a converted Masonic Lodge (Kingdom Studios) in the inner Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 suburb of Maylands. The album was mixed by Shawn O'Callaghan (John Butler

John Butler (musician)

John Charles Wiltshire-Butler or John Charles Butler is an Australian musician, songwriter, record label owner and producer...

, Eskimo Joe

Eskimo Joe

Eskimo Joe is an Australian alternative rock band formed by Stuart MacLeod on guitars, Joel Quartermain on drums and guitar and Kavyen Temperley on bass guitar and vocals, in East Fremantle, Western Australia in 1997....

, Gyroscope

Gyroscope (band)

Gyroscope is an Australian rock band from Perth, Western Australia, formed in 1997. The band comprises vocalist and guitarist Daniel Sanders, guitarist and back up vocalist Zoran Trivic, bassist and back up vocalist Brad Campbell and drummer Rob Nassif....

) at Studio Couch in North Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

.

The album is the first by Jebediah as an independent band after leaving Sony Music Australia in 2002 by mutual consent. The band was unhappy with Sony's promotion of its previous self-titled album

Jebediah (album)

Jebediah is the third studio album by Australian alternative rock band Jebediah, released on 3 March 2002. It was recorded at Mangrove Studios outside Sydney, with producer Magoo...

 while its sales were not as strong as previous releases.

Braxton Hicks

Braxton Hicks

Braxton Hicks contractions, also known as false labor or practice contractions, are sporadic uterine contractions that sometimes start around 6 weeks...

, as the band have explained, are the false labour contractions some women experience before childbirth, named after the 19th-century English doctor who "discovered" them. Mitchell was struck by the term when he read it in a medical book. He explains, "We saw it as an analogy for songwriting in that the songwriting process is like the contractions, and the end product, the song, is like the child. And you can take it as far as you want really."

Chart success

Braxton Hicks was released on 12 July 2004 in Australia. It entered the Australian charts at number 26, a poor result given that the band's first two albums had debuted in the top ten. However, the band estimated that it could break even with fewer sales as an independent act than on a major label.

The first single, "First Time

First Time (Jebediah)

"First Time" is the first single from Australian alternative rock band Jebediah's fourth studio album, Braxton Hicks. It was released on 24 May 2004 and reached number 50 on the Australian ARIA Singles Charts.-Charts:...

", released on 24 May 2004, reached number 50 on Australian ARIA Singles Charts

ARIA Charts

The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

. The second single, "No Sleep

No Sleep (Jebediah)

"No Sleep" is the second single from Australian alternative rock band Jebediah's fourth studio album, Braxton Hicks. It was released on 24 May 2004, and has been featured on an advertisement for the National Rugby League...

", did not chart on the mainstream charts but entered Triple J

Triple J

triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

's Net 50 at number 8. It is featured on the 2006 WAMi

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The Western Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc...

 dual disc compilation Kiss My WAMi 2006, with the audio on the CD album and its video on the DVD. Bass guitarist Vanessa Thornton was nominated for a WAMi Award for 'Best Bassist'.

Track listing

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak Position	Weeks In
Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Albums Chart	26	1