The Indescribable Wow

Rate It! Avg: 5.0 (8 ratings)
The Indescribable Wow album cover
Album Information
  • Artist: Sam Phillips (See All Albums by Sam Phillips)
  • Date Released: Jun 29, 1988

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

  • Label: VIRGIN

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 34:24

Write a Review 1 Member Review

Please register before you review a release. Register

user avatar

5 Star Winner

battlefeverj

This is the best album I've downloaded this year! No kidding, this one album was worth my entire year's subscription. INDESCRIBABLE WOW is loaded with 10 tracks of solid songwriting and production. It avoids the use of 80's musical "gimmicks"; that's probably why this still sounds so sweet 23 years later! The songs are smart, but not flippant or cynical, and with an honesty that makes them emotionally engaging. Mix this in your queue along with those old Marshall Crenshaw albums, you'll be glad you did.

Recommended Albums

eMusic Features

0

Flying Saucers Rock & Roll

By Lenny Kaye, eMusic Contributor

Of all rock's family tendrils, rockabilly is the one that keeps re-boppin', sporting a revival every decade or so, its coming-of-age kicks allowing each new offspring to roll its own. Guitar-heavy, emphasizing Wild Ones rebellion ("whaddya got?") and sonic dazzle (heavy on the reverb and chest vibrato), it raves and paves garage-punk (The Seeds to Damned), shockabilly (The Cramps and Chadbourne), new-wave (Stray Cats and Dire Straits), waggle-wobble (Jon Spencer and Boss Hog), Nirvana and… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Sam Phillips’ aptly titled secular debut is a pop marvel, a bright, colorful collection produced with verve by T-Bone Burnett. At times, Phillips’ sweet voice and bouncy songs conjure the spirit of prime girl-group-era pop, but her mature, pointed lyrics — largely devoted to sophisticated dissections of modern relationships — shrug off such easy comparisons. Similarly, Burnett’s production straddles both the past and the present — for all the 1960s nods of the Beach Boys-like “I Can’t Stop Crying” or the Beatlesque “Remorse,” The Indescribable Wow never sounds dated or retro, just timeless. – Jason Ankeny