History

After the completion of the tour for Stars on ESP

Stars on ESP

Stars on ESP is an album by His Name Is Alive, released by 4AD in 1996.-History:Stars on ESP had the longest gestation period of any His Name Is Alive album, a project that band leader Warren Defever spent three years crafting before it saw release...

, His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive

His Name Is Alive is an experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label...

 leader Warren Defever

Warren Defever

Warren Defever is a musician and producer from Livonia, Michigan. He is most known for his chameleonic project His Name Is Alive, though he is active in numerous other circles...

 found himself with a steady lineup for perhaps the first time in the band's history; veteran vocalist Karin Oliver

Karin Oliver

Karin Oliver is a former singer for the Livonia, Michigan band His Name Is Alive. She was with the band from 1989 to 1998. After leaving the band following the USA release party for the Ft. Lake album, she pursued a career in marketing full time. She also provided vocals for Velour 100, a band...

 and drummer Trey Many, along with newer members: vocalist Lovetta Pippen and bassist Chad Gilchrist, along with Defever himself on guitar, and newer vocalist Erika Hoffman (who sings on four of the six tracks). As a result, Defever was anxious to make a new recording and quickly recorded the tracks for this EP in late 1996. It would be almost a year later, in October 1997, before it was released. Apparently this irked Defever somewhat, as the booklet for the 1999 compilation Always Stay Sweet

Always Stay Sweet

-Notes:4AD release* Tracks 3, 4, 5, and 7 taken from Livonia * Tracks 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12, and 16 taken from Home Is in Your Head * Tracks 14 and 21 taken from The Dirt Eaters EP...

features a copy of a fax that Defever sent to 4AD

4AD

4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...

 urging them to hurry up and release the EP.

While originally intended as a mail-order only release of 1,000 copies, the CD EP was soon re-pressed and sold in stores. The tracks were also appended to a reissue of Stars on ESP in 1998.

"Soul Resides in the Horse Barn" is a re-recording of an early His Name Is Alive song, which originally appeared on the King of Sweet

King of Sweet

King of Sweet is a compilation album by His Name Is Alive, originally released in a limited run by the Perdition Plastics label in 1993. Most, if not all, of the songs had previously appeared on the band's many self-released cassettes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and some of them had...

compilation.

Concepts

Nice Day furthers the motifs of Stars on ESP--classic AM radio pop and Michigan in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but takes a more rock-oriented approach. The sound could be described as a mix between Motown and the grittier side of that era in Detroit: the protopunk

Protopunk

Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...

 sounds of The Stooges

The Stooges

The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...

 and the MC5

MC5

The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...

. The Motown influence comes via the increased presence of Pippen, an experienced soul and gospel singer.

Track listing

1. "Nice Day"
2. "Drive Around the Clock"
3. "Crashed Up on the Corner"
4. "Soul Resides in the Horse Barn"
5. "Whale, You Ease My Mind"
6. "Oh Sinner Man"