Slap-Happy is the sixth studio album by the American rock band L7. It was released on August 24, 1999, by Bong Load Records in collaboration with Wax Tadpole Records, an independent record label that the band formed after being dropped by Reprise Records in 1997. L7 recorded the album as a trio formed by founding members Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, and longtime drummer Demetra Plakas, following the departure of bassist Gail Greenwood. It was made with a low budget and produced by the band and their friend Brian Haught.
Unlike previous L7 albums, Slap-Happy features more varied and slower-paced songs, some of which borrowing elements from other genres like hip hop. Upon release, the album received generally mixed reviews from music critics and suffered dismal sales partly due to the poor distribution and support by Bong Load. Some critics found the album predictable and too similar to previous L7 albums, but others highlighted certain songs for their nifty musical style.
Background and recording
Slap-Happy is the follow-up to L7's 1997 album The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum. Like its predecessors, The Beauty Process was released by Slash Records in collaboration with Reprise, a major record label owned by the Warner Music Group. After the release of The Beauty Process, bassist Gail Greenwood, who replaced founding member Jennifer Finch in 1996, left the band due to uncoordinated schedules; Greenwood was rooted in Rhode Island, while L7 was based in Los Angeles, California. L7 would then continue as a trio formed by founding members Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, and longtime drummer Demetra Plakas. In 1998, the band released a live album, Live: Omaha to Osaka, through the independent record label Man's Ruin Records.
After being dropped by Reprise in 1997, L7 was interested in maintaining an independent, do it yourself approach. Sparks and Gardner explained that the band wanted to release an album in 1999, and if they opted for another major label opportunity, they would certainly have to wait until 2000 for a release slot. As a result, the band signed a deal with Bong Load Records and formed Wax Tadpole Records, an independent record label named after the first song of their self-titled debut album. Although the band had left the indie music scene before due to distribution problems, Sparks said that she would be watching the Bong Load deal to ensure the distribution of Slap-Happy, noting that "there's nothing more painful to tour for a record and the fans not being able to find your record in stores."
Most of the songs on Slap-Happy were recorded before the band decided to form Wax Tadpole. Sparks and Gardner wrote all the songs, usually at Gardner's home, even though the whole group contributed to the album in one form or another. Unlike its predecessor, Slap-Happy was made with a low budget. According to Sparks, "We utilized a lot of home studios, did a lot of our tracking ourselves, used a lot of first takes. I think there's a lot of life in this record, and yet I think when we started our own label we were fearing having to take a major step down in production because of the financial aspects." The album was produced by Brian Haught, a friend of the band who let the band use his studio "just out of the kindness of his heart." It was recorded and mixed at Synical Labs, PCS Studios, Sound City, de Prume Studios, Sonors Studios, and King Sound and Pictures in Los Angeles. Audio mastering took place at Precision Mastering in Los Angeles.
Music and lyrics
Slap-Happy was considered more varied than previous L7 albums. Although the album features several songs with aggressive guitar riffs that are reminiscent of the band's previous releases, as seen in the tracks "On My Rockin' Machine", "Long Green" and "Mantra Down", it also contains slow-paced and guitar-driven ballads like "Livin' Large" and "Freezer Burn". The former song was described by Marc Weingarten of Rolling Stone as "a kind of rallying cry for the indie-rock underclass", while the latter was seen as a melodic song that "juxtaposes harsh words delivered in mellow, floating vocals." Slap-Happy also contains songs that borrow elements from genres other than rock. For example, the song "Little One" contains elements of both polka and country music. As Sparks noted, "We're all into all kinds of music, but I listen to very little rock, actually. Our approach was to pretty much do what we've always done, but we're not concerned with sticking with a particular style. There's diversity in our songwriting."