The Place We Ran From

The Place We Ran From
Studio album by
Tired Pony
ReleasedJune 5, 2010 (2010-06-05)
RecordedJanuary 5–12, 2010, at Type Foundry, Portland, Oregon, United States; with Tom Smith, Betsey Lee, and Esme Lee recorded in the Santa Monica Mountains and Zooey Deschanel recorded at East West, Hollywood, California, United States
GenreIndie folk, alternative country, alternative rock
Length45:29
LabelMom + Pop Music, Fiction Records/Polydor Records
ProducerJacknife Lee
Tired Pony chronology
The Place We Ran From
(2010) 		The Ghost of the Mountain
(2013)
Singles from The Place We Ran From
  1. "Dead American Writers"
    Released: 2010
  2. "Get on the Road"
    Released: 2010 (promo)

The Place We Ran From is the debut album by the alternative rock/alt country supergroup Tired Pony, released on July 5, 2010, through Polydor/Fiction in the United Kingdom and on July 28, 2010, in the United States by Mom and Pop. The album grew from what was initially a solo project for Snow Patrol songwriter Gary Lightbody which rapidly became a collaboration with members of Belle and Sebastian, R.E.M., and producer Jacknife Lee joining as well as contributions from actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, guitarist M. Ward, and Tom Smith of the indie rock group Editors.[1] The tracks were recorded over the course of one week in January 2010, in Portland, Oregon.[2] The album was recorded over the course of one week in January 2010 and charted in over a half dozen countries.

Recording

Lightbody had a "long-term ambition" of making a country album[3] and revealed the project's existence in May 2009. In the interview, he expressed his love for country music, which he said he had loved for a long time: "I always thought I had a country album in me and it turns out I did."[4] The rest of Snow Patrol expressed excitement for their band-mate, "delighted that [Lightbody was] getting to exercise all his crazy ideas."[5] In October 2009, Lightbody in his blog on Snow Patrol's website revealed the members of the group to be Richard Colburn (of Belle & Sebastian), Iain Archer, singer Miriam Kaufmann (Archer's wife), and Jacknife Lee. He talked about two more members whom he was very excited about, but didn't name them.[6][7] He also stated that the album won't be country as was being reported,[4][8][9][10] but would be "country-tinged".[6] In January 2010, Hot Press reported Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) to be a member of the group. Lightbody described Buck as one of his "all-time heroes" and admired his talent for playing a variety of instruments.[7]

Promotion

The lead single from The Place We Ran From was "Dead American Writers",[11] released one week prior on Compact Disc and 7". A music video was directed by Paul Fraser featuring Joseph Gilgun lip syncing the lyrics.[12] "Dead American Writers" includes "I Finally Love This Town" as a B-side; the song was later made available through the band's site as a free download. "Get on the Road" was released as a promotional single with an instrumental version of the track as its B-side.

The band also toured through summer and autumn of 2010.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[14]
The Guardian[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Uncut[17]

Rolling Stone gave the album a rating of three stars out of five.[16]

Charting

Chart (2010) Peak
Belgium Album Chart 24[18]
Billboard 200 191[19]
Dutch Album Chart 14[18]
Irish Album Chart 27[18]
Top Heatseekers 8[19]
Top Independent Albums 33[19]
UK Albums Chart 17[18]

Track listing

All songs written by Tired Pony

  1. "Northwestern Skies" – 3:49
  2. "Get on the Road" – 4:45
  3. "Point Me at Lost Islands" – 3:11
  4. "Dead American Writers" – 2:34
  5. "Held in the Arms of Your Words" – 6:40
  6. "That Silver Necklace" – 3:49
  7. "I Am a Landslide" – 5:43
  8. "The Deepest Ocean There Is" – 4:58
  9. "The Good Book" – 3:04
  10. "Pieces" – 6:56

American iTunes Store pre-order bonus track

  2. "In the Stockade"

Japanese edition bonus track

  2. "I Finally Love This Town" – 4:58

Compact Disc + MP3 download bonus tracks

  2. "In the Stockade"
  3. "Your Bible"

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom June 5, 2010 Polydor/Fiction Digital download[20] —
July 11, 2010 Compact Disc 6 02527 42262 6
LP 6 02527 46636 1
United States September 28, 2010 Mom and Pop Compact Disc + MP3 8 58275 00182 2

Personnel

Tired Pony
Additional musicians
Technical personnel
  • Sam Bell – engineering, mixing
  • Vivian Johnson – photography
  • Dan Kaufmann – design
  • Jason Powers – assistant
  • Adam Selzer – assistant
  • Nigel Walton – mastering at the Edit Suite, London, England, United Kingdom

References

  1. ^ "Snow Patrol and REM join forces". BBC News. BBC. May 14, 2010.
  2. ^ "Gary Lightbody : Diary : tired pony". Snow Patrol. March 10, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  3. ^ "Gary Lightbody to go solo". Xfm. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on May 10, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody going solo". NME. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  5. ^ "Iain Archer confirms Belfast gig + Gary Lightbody collaboration plans". Hot Press. October 29, 2009. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
  6. ^ a b Lightbody, Gary (October 13, 2009). "Book 'em danno". snowpatrol.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  7. ^ a b "Gary Lightbody works with Peter Buck". Hot Press. January 5, 2010. Archived from the original on August 3, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  8. ^ Murray, Robin (May 5, 2009). "Gary Lightbody goes solo". Clash. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  9. ^ Rogers, Georgie (May 5, 2009). "Gary Lightbody solo". BBC. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  10. ^ MacNeill, Jason (October 13, 2009). "Snow Patrol singer prepping two side projects". CHARTattack. Archived from the original on October 14, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  11. ^ "Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody announces REM collaboration album | News". NME. May 14, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  12. ^ "Tired Pony, 'Dead American Writers' – Video Premiere – Spinner UK". Spinner.com. June 23, 2010. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  13. ^ "Critic Reviews for The Place We Ran From". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  14. ^ Leahey, Andrew. "The Place We Ran From –Tired Pony". Allmusic. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  15. ^ Simpson, Dave (July 15, 2010). "Tired Pony: The Place We Ran From". Uncut. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Album Revies The Place We Ran From". Rolling Stone. June 5, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  17. ^ McKay, Alastair (August 2010). "ALBUM REVIEW: TIRED PONY - THE PLACE WE RAN FROM". Uncut. p. 85. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011.
  18. ^ a b c d "Tired Pony – The Place We Ran From – Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  19. ^ a b c "The Place We Ran From – Tired Pony". Allmusic. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  20. ^ "The Place We Ran From by Tired Pony". iTunes Store. July 5, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2011.