Martinis & Bikinis

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Martinis & Bikinis album cover
Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK
  • Artist: Sam Phillips (See All Albums by Sam Phillips)

  • Date Released: Feb 28, 1994

  • Genre: Alternative/Punk, Style: Alternative, Rock, Commercial Alternative, Indie Rock

  • Label: VIRGIN

  • Copyright: (P) (C) 1994 Virgin Records America, Inc.. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation of applicable laws. Manufactured by Virgin Records America, Inc., 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011.

Total Tracks: 13   Total Length: 46:19

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Holly George-Warren

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Holly George-Warren is an award-winning writer and editor, whose dozen-plus books include subjects ranging from Gene Autry to punk rock. Formerly co-editor of t...more »

05.18.11
As close as the stunning singer would come to stardom
1994 | Label: VIRGIN

The exquisite Martinis and Bikinis brought former Christian pop star Sam Phillips as close as she would come to stardom, earning her a 1994 Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock performance for the luminous "Baby I Can't Please You." Then-husband T Bone Burnett crafted a template redolent of mid-to-late era Beatles, spare rockabilly and, with Van Dyke Parks scoring the strings, chamber pop. Burnett's wide-ranging production perfectly complements Phillips's classic, lyrically-rich songcraft, always making sure to showcase her burnished alto, whether as a grainy, plaintive plea buttressed by dense harmonies on "I Need Love," an emotive croon on the harpsichord-driven opener "Love and Kisses," or an echo-laden howl on the Tom Waits-in-a-wind-tunnel cover of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth."

To assist, Burnett cast a dream team of tasteful melodic rock sidemen, including XTC's Colin Moulding on bass, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on jangly electric, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench on keyboards. The melodies and arrangements on Martinis and Bikinis are so intoxicating, in fact, it's easy to lose track of Phillips's lyrical gifts. Not many writers would risk the unhip boldness of singing "I need God, not the political church" ("I Need Love"), and… read more »

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They Say All Music Guide

With Martinis and Bikinis, Sam Phillips’ music turns decidedly Beatlesque: edgier and more psychedelic than her previous work, songs like “Strawberry Road” and “Same Rain” springboard from John Lennon-inspired origins, while “Same Changes” brazenly borrows from “If I Needed Someone” — Van Dyke Parks’ string arrangement for the stunning “Baby, I Can’t Please You” even recalls “Tomorrow Never Knows.” (To punctuate matters, the album closes with a cover of Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.”) The difference between Phillips and the vast majority of her pop-revisionist contemporaries, however, is that she never coasts on the fumes of her influences, but turns them on their head and gives them new life — regardless of the approach, her impassioned, spiritually charged songs remain the product of a singular vision. – Jason Ankeny

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